Smokescreen
by boswifedeb
Summary: When accusations of murder lead a man to contemplate suicide by cop, Matt is asked to step in and help with the situation. **Immediately follows "Double Vision"**. Rated T for violence and language.
1. Chapter 1

"**Smokescreen"**

****Immediately follows "Double Vision"****

"_**What have I become**_

_**My sweetest friend**_

_**Everyone I know**_

_**Goes away in the end"**_

_**~"Hurt" by Trent Reznor**_

**01**

"Houston, we need your help." LA County Fire Marshal Don MacLemore grabbed his jacket and exited the door of his home as he made the call to one of the department's newest investigators. It was almost 10PM and it had been a long day for the fifty six year old. He had just been about to go to bed when he received the urgent call from his office.

At his home on Saddle Peak Road, Matt Houston sat up in his recliner. He had spent the better part of the day moving the herd of cattle on the California ranch to lower pastures and had been dozing in front of the TV while snuggled up with CJ. "What's wrong, Don?" He was surprised to hear from the fire marshal.

"You remember hearing about the Travis case? It was about the same time as the Cicero." He climbed behind the wheel and started the engine of the department SUV.

"Yeah, a little." Matt moved back to the bedroom and changed into duty boots, grabbing a jacket and - out of habit - his holster and Glock before starting back into the den, kissing CJ, and receiving the standard "be careful" mouthed at him before he headed toward the kitchen door.

"I just got a call that his wife was found dead and he's barricaded himself in the guest house."

"Okay." He slid behind the wheel of the Chevy truck and started the engine.

"It isn't on fire." Don knew about the trouble between Matt and the LAPD chief. "This is county jurisdiction. The sheriff called me and he specifically asked for you."

"Oh." There was no disguising the surprise in the younger man's voice. "I wasn't sure if you...ya know…"

"Houston, you have my complete backing as well as Sheriff Strauss. You had a problem, you dealt with it, and as far as I am concerned that just means that you're human. Besides you know what they say: what doesn't kill you makes you stronger."

"I appreciate that."

"Anyway, Strauss thought you would be the perfect one to talk to Travis. He's threatened to kill himself."

"Don, I don't know if...I'm not sure I'm qualified to talk to somebody like that."

"You and Chris Travis were both in the Middle East around the same time and probably dealt with a lot of the same things. Plus you know fires, you know how to work homicides…" Pausing he considered his next words carefully. "And you've recently dealt with your troubles. From what I've heard he's refused counseling ever since he came back home."

"I'm no expert."

"I need you on this."

"Alright." He got the address and headed toward the home that was located north of the ranch.

"The sheriff will have a mobile command center set up by the time we get there."

"I'll see you there." He hung up and hit the lights and siren on the truck, glad that he had them put on the replacement for the now-scrapped "dream truck" and even more glad that after his troubles with LAPD that he hadn't had them taken off. Since he hadn't heard a word from the fire department he hadn't been sure if MacLemore still wanted him as a member of the team. Now he felt a glow of thankfulness that the man had not only kept a place for him but insisted that he was still a valued asset. His two month battle with depression - while not a long struggle - had been over-publicized by "reporter" Tamara Placer who painted him as being crazed and unstable even though he had been cleared by his own psychiatrist as well as the panel of doctors at the Harris County Sheriff's Office in Texas where he was a detective sergeant.

Turning his mind to the case at hand he punched CJ's number on his cell and it was immediately answered. "Babe, I need some quick research on Chris Travis." He filled her in on the call as she quickly went into their home office.

"Okay, I'm waiting on the computer." She took a seat behind the desk that had belonged to her father. "Congratulations by the way."

"Thanks. I wasn't sure he still wanted me around."

"Hon, Don's not stupid like Whitaker. Apparently the sheriff isn't either. Actually I heard that Strauss detests him - says that he has absolutely no business in law enforcement."

"He's got that right."

"Alright, let's see what I can find." She could hear the siren in the background as she began accessing information on the case. "Chris Travis is forty three, married to the former Marlena Anadarko for ten years, served in the army for eight years and with the 101st Airborne for four years - from 2004 to 2008. He was stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan. So you two really do have some things in common."

"What about his discharge?"

"Honorable."

"Okay, they think he killed his wife. What can you tell me about her?" He negotiated the curves in the road while he concentrated on what she told him.

"She's thirty eight, is from Redmond, Washington…" There was a pause as she worked the keyboard. "Comes from a family of four. Mom and dad are both deceased, and an older brother…" There was more clicking. "Hmmm...the brother was killed in prison a while back. He was in for bank robbery. The money was never recovered. Got shanked in the prison kitchen and the case is still unsolved."

"These folks have had more than a fair share of troubles. What can you tell me about the fire?"

There was another flurry of keystrokes. "Looks like Paul Sanderson was the investigator on it. The boys were four and seven years old, both found tied up in a closet on the second floor of the home. The couple was out on a date and the babysitter was found in the den. Blunt force trauma to the head. It went cold." She glanced up as Sheila came to the door with a questioning look on her face. CJ waved her in and she took a seat on the couch. "From what I can find the fire started in the laundry room."

"Alright. I may need some more help from you. And would you call Roger? I may need some help from him, too. I'm not real sure what I'm going to say to this guy. Don't want to screw it up."

"You've got this, baby. I'll call him."

"Love you."

"You, too. 'Bye." The call was disconnected and she looked over to the nanny as she dialed the psychiatrist's number.

"He's working for LAPD?" There was obvious surprise.

"Don MacLemore."

"Good. Whitaker can kiss my-"

"Roger, it's CJ." The lawyer gave the nanny a smile as she explained the situation.

"Well, it sounds like the sheriff and the fire marshal have a lot of faith in him."

"More than he has in himself right now. He thought he might need a little back up from you. He's not exactly sure how to approach it."

"Well, I'm at Fort Hood right now working on setting up a support group. I can talk to him on the phone, but there's no way I can get there."

"He may need to text you."

"That's fine. Tell him I'll be on standby. And tell him I said I believe he can handle this."

"He'll appreciate that. Thanks." She hung up and called her husband back relaying the message.

"Crap." The investigator felt a quiver of fear go through him. "I'm on scene. I'll talk to you later. Love you."

"Love you, baby." She disconnected the call.

At the end of the driveway Houston showed his fire department ID to a deputy who quickly nodded and told him that he was expected at the command center. As he drove up the dirt driveway he could see trees on either side and the sky up ahead was a sea of flashing lights. "God, help me out here. I don't know what I'm doing." The only thing that went through his mind was Scott Tisdale: now one of CJ's employees at the Rockin' PH, Matt had met him under somewhat similar circumstances a few years earlier. Taking a deep breath he exited the truck and approached the trailer. He showed his fire department ID to the deputy outside and was immediately directed to enter. Three men were seated in front of a bank of computer screens and looked up as he entered. He received a nod from LA County Sheriff Karl Strauss. In his mid-fifties, the man had the no-nonsense bearing of someone who has devoted their life to service. He stood, extended his hand, and greeted the younger man. "Houston, thanks for coming. Nice to meet you. This is Capt. Pablo Duarte …" The man on his right shook as did the other man. "And Lt. Josh McKinney. Please have a seat."

Taking the offered chair, Matt saw that a camera was trained on the guest house and could see a body laying next to a pickup. "So what exactly has he said?"

"He's threatened to kill himself...or have one of us do it. Says he didn't kill his wife. Is tired of people accusing him of having something to do with the deaths of his sons and the babysitter. Do you know the details of that case?"

"Just bare bones." He relayed what CJ had told him.

The door opened and MacLemore came inside. "How are we doing?"

"He's been quiet since I told him you were going to reopen the case."

Don nodded and looked to Matt. "I've got Rich and Rod looking into it."

"And Paul Sanderson worked it before?"

The Fire Marshal's expression darkened. "He's no longer with the department. Left after this case."

"Well…" He paused. "Do we have phone communications with him?"

Strauss made a face. "We did have him on the landline. Now he's not picking up."

"Was there actually anything pointing to his involvement in the deaths of the kids or the babysitter?" Matt turned his attention to MacLemore.

"No. Just public speculation."

Matt raised an eyebrow. "As in the media?"

"Uh huh." His look and tone gave Matt a nudge.

"Placer?"

"Yup."

The P.I. gave a disgusted sound. "Now I know what she was doing when she wasn't after me." He shook his head. "Let's try the landline again." Strauss slid a piece of paper to him and nodded at a phone sitting on the table top. He dialed the number. Nothing. "Alright. Got a bullhorn?"

The sheriff pointed at a button on the control panel. "Just punch and talk into that microphone."

"Hey, Mr. Travis? My name is Houston. Would you please pick up the phone?" He tried calling again. Still no answer. "Sir, Sheriff Strauss asked me to come take a look at the case involving the fire here. I work with the Fire Marshal. If we're going to get to the bottom of it I'm going to need your help. Please pick up the phone." He tried again with no response. "Sir, if you won't do it for yourself do it for your boys." Once more he punched the redial and this time it was answered.


	2. Chapter 2

**02**

"Who are you?" Chris Travis was sitting in the darkened house with a loaded Glock on his right thigh, a Remington 700 across his lap, and a Browning twelve gauge shotgun leaning against the left side of the chair.

"Name's Houston. I work for the Fire Marshal."

There was a sharp, humorless laugh from the other end of the line. "You're the one that Placer woman says is a nutjob."

"That would be me."

"She thinks all vets are deranged."

"Who really gives a rat's ass what she thinks?" This time both men chuckled and Strauss exchanged a look with MacLemore who gave him a grim smile.

"So I guess they thought you would be able to talk me outta here, huh?"

"Well, I guess they figured we might have a few things in common. Plus I'm a pretty good investigator."

"I've heard of you. So can you get this mess figured out?"

"Can't do it alone. But we've got a hell of a team put together."

"Yeah? Part of your "team" tried to slam me on the ground earlier."

"I wasn't here then. How about you fill me in on how all of this started?"

"Tonight or…" Inside the house Travis felt his throat constrict and the pain of losing the boys seemed as fresh as if it had just happened.

"Wherever you want to start." In the trailer Matt completely blocked out the others that were with him and concentrated on the voice on the other side of the call. He knew all too well how the man was struggling to keep his voice from cracking with emotion and decided to take the tack that Roger Mullins had taken with him - letting him control what was discussed first, all the while knowing that the rest would follow when the time was right.

"It was just after Christmas…" Chris picked up the bottle of water next to him and took a swallow. "Marlena and I had been going through a rough patch. Seems like we're always going through a rough patch." It hit him then that she was gone just like Dyson and Devon.

Matt had pulled out his notebook and began taking notes, the fact that Travis had used the present tense in regards to his wife not escaping him. A killer didn't normally do that and he looked at Strauss who nodded: he had picked up on it as well.

The voice quavered slightly. "We decided to get a babysitter and go out. Maybe a little time with just the two of us would kind of get things going again. We went to dinner at a little Greek place down in Malibu, went to a movie, and took a walk on the beach. Marlena called about ten o'clock to check up on the boys and Ashley said that they had been good about going to bed. She laughed and said that they had fallen asleep watching one of the movies that Santa left for them." There was a pause as he remembered their faces on Christmas morning, the perfect look of joy that both had when they saw the bulging stockings and brightly wrapped packages under the tree. Then it had been a mad dash and both had torn into the gifts. Silent tears slid down his cheeks. He cleared his throat. "You got kids, Houston?"

"Yeah."

"Christmas was…" He stopped again.

"There's nothing else like it. I know what you mean."

"Yeah." Swiping at the tears he took another drink. "Anyway…" Pulling in a deep breath he tried to calm down. "It was about midnight when we were coming up Mulholland and we could see this weird glow. Thought maybe it was another damn wildfire and I hit the gas. By the time we got here…"

There was another pause and Don slid the case file in front of him. The main house was fully involved when the first fire units arrived on scene. He went through the pictures and waited for Travis. The pictures of the babysitter were bad enough but he had a hard time looking at what was left of the boys. They had been bound with electrical cords that had melted. The silence on the other end of the line drug on. "I'm sorry."

"Losing a family member is bad enough but to lose them like that...and then all the damn questions. Marlena and I couldn't think straight. And that guy from your office - think his name is Sanderson? He's a son of a bitch." Anger flared up inside of him. "Marlena just collapsed when they wouldn't let us get even halfway up the driveway. I got past one of the cops and then three of the bastards ganged up on me." There was yet another pause and he tried to control the anger that welled up. "They threatened to cuff me. Those were my kids in there!"

"They didn't want you to get hurt too, Chris."

"I know but still." He breathed deeply again. "Anyway we spent the night being questioned by the cops and then the next day that Sanderson fool shows up at our hotel room and starts in on us. Marlena was such a basket case they gave her tranquilizers at the ER. She had finally gone to sleep when he came pounding on the door. I tried to talk to him outside so she wouldn't wake up but he insisted on talking to both of us. Kept asking the same questions over and over- why did we go out that night? Was there any reason for someone to want to hurt the boys - you know, all the time looking at us like we had done it? Could we prove where we were when the fire started? Did we have insurance on them? And that's when I kicked him out of the room."

"I can sure understand why you were pissed."

"It was like he had tunnel vision - couldn't see that somebody else had done it. And Ashley's parents…" There was quiet again. "She used to come riding up here all the time and boarded her horse with us. We saw her grow up just like our boys. It was like she was one of our own kids."

"Sounds like the perfect babysitter."

"She was. Dyson and Devon were absolutely crazy about her. Her poor mom and dad were just heartbroken. They had adopted her when she was four years old. They couldn't have kids and she was their world." He paused again. "Tiffany was killed in a car wreck about a month later. Kent killed himself two weeks after that." He picked up the pistol and ran a hand over the barrel. "Maybe he had the right idea."

Matt's voice was very quiet. "If you do that who will speak up for the boys? And Ashley? And who's going to make sure that whoever killed your wife pays for it?"

"They think I did it. All of it."

"And nobody will ever know the truth." He waited for a few seconds. "You owe them more than that. They don't deserve to have you quit on them."

_Meanwhile…_

Rich Holt and Rod Jessup were poring through the file on the Travis case as they looked through the box of evidence that Paul Sanderson had collected from the scene. What was left of the electrical cords that had bound the two boys resided in plastic evidence bags. The medical examiner had determined that the boys had been alive at the time of the fire but surmised that due to the head wounds they had sustained they most likely were unconscious. Rich felt his stomach churn. He had heard about the case but had been assigned to the Cicero investigation at the time as had Rod.

"God." Jessup pointed to a copy of the x rays and pictures of what was left of the babysitter's head. "Somebody bashed this girl in the head so many times…"

There was no reply as Rich continued to read. Sanderson had pinpointed the point of ignition as being in the laundry room in a basket of clothes. Located on the first floor, it had been connected to the kitchen which was adjacent to the den where Ashley's body had been found. He consulted the pictures of the scene and saw that her body was located between the end of the sofa and the fireplace. He looked closer at the fireplace: it was a wood burner and didn't appear to have been used. There was nothing in the grate. A trailer of accelerant that was tested and shown to be gasoline had run from the laundry room to the girl's body in the den, then up the stairs to the closet. The first firefighters in the building had literally followed the path of destruction to the second floor utility closet and found the boys. They had also been doused with gas. "Damn." Even after all his years as a fireman and investigator, Rich found pictures like those in front of him hard to look at and knew that no matter how the case turned out, the Travis boys were going to forever be stuck inside his mind.

Jessup was still looking at Ashley's photos. "This is just too much, Rich. It's overkill." He slid them over to his friend.

"God...how many are there?"

"The medical examiner had to estimate. He said at least twenty five. They were overlapping so it was hard to say for sure. He said that it looked like it probably started with her face and then when she fell the killer must have just wailed on the back of her skull. It was just…" He shook his head, looking pale. "I've seen some stuff in my time but this…"

"Okay, Travis said that they went to a restaurant, a movie, and for a walk on the beach before they came home. Credit card receipts proved that they were at the restaurant and the movie." He shuffled through the papers. "And there wasn't any insurance on the boys. Ashley's parents had a small policy on her that her grandmother started when she was adopted."

"Rich, there's nothing pointing to Travis in my book." Jessup gathered up papers.

"Nope. He had proof of where he was. That fire took a while to reach the point that it did when it was called in. At least forty five minutes or better. And there was no trace of accelerant on the Travis' clothes. Sanderson had them tested."

"So why in the hell did he go after them?"

"Don't know. But we're going to find out." He pulled out his phone and texted Don MacLemore to give him their preliminary findings.


	3. Chapter 3

**03**

"What do you know about giving up? Aren't you supposed to be some kind of war hero?" The last was said with a touch of disdain.

"Guess that depends on who you're talking to; I don't see myself as a hero. I went where I was told and did the best job that I could." Matt gratefully took the cup of coffee that Lt. McKinney offered and took a sip. "And yes, there have been times when I thought about giving up."

"So why didn't you?" Inside the house Chris Travis sat looking out at the flashing lights, figuring that the man on the other end of the line was probably sitting in the big RV-looking contraption that had been brought in earlier.

"Which time?"

"Any of them."

"Well…" He took another sip of coffee. "Folks have told me my whole life that I'm stubborn." There was a chuckle on the other end of the line.

"Guess we do have something in common. That's what my mom and dad used to tell me." Thinking back to the reports that he had seen on TV about the man he asked another question. "So I heard you got the boot from LAPD?"

"Uh huh."

"Not ashamed to talk about it, huh?"

"No reason to be ashamed. I didn't do a damn thing wrong."

"You're a private eye or something, right?"

"I am."

"But you said that you work for the Fire Marshal?"

"When they need a little extra help they give me a holler."

"So they don't think you're unstable like that Placer bitch says?"

"Nope. They think that I might just be human." There was quiet on the other end of the line and he heard MacLemore's phone vibrate.

"I don't think_ she_ is." Travis thought back to the reports about the fire, him, and his family that the woman had put on national television.

"Can't argue with you there." He looked over as the Fire Marshall pushed his phone in front of him with Rich and Rod's assessment of the case on it. "You know I told you we've got a hell of a team working on this?"

"Yeah."

"Well, two of the other fire investigators have been looking at the file on the fire. They say - and I quote: "Sanderson was full of crap. Travis didn't have anything to do with it. He proved where he was at the time the fire started."

"How do I know that you're not just saying that to get me out of here?"

"Why would I lie? I've told you the truth about everything that you've asked me."

"As far as I know." Travis considered it. "Are they going to figure out who did it?"

Matt heard the doubt in the man's voice. "They're sure as hell gonna try. As far as I'm concerned the two men that are looking at it are the best there is - they don't have any reason to lie. As a matter of fact, what they're saying makes the department look bad. Do you really think they would lie about it?"

"That's a good point. So what about that Sanderson guy? Is he going to get the axe?"

"He doesn't work there any more. Yours was the last case he worked. He left right afterwards."

"Why is that?"

"Don't know. Never met him. I was working on the Cicero case when all this happened."

"That was a hell of a mess. Thing never should have been built."

"Yup."

"I heard that you got the people behind that. Guess you're pretty good after all."

"The guys that are working on your case now were part of that, too."

"Well…" Travis got up and carefully moved around the room, looking out the windows. If his time in the military had taught him anything it was that more than likely there were at least two snipers keeping an eye on the house. That's why he had turned off the lights, although he knew they were equipped with night vision; he wasn't going to make it any easier on them. "Maybe somebody will believe me now about the fire. But what about my wife?"

"You haven't told me what happened."

"I don't know."

"So tell me what you do know."

Travis wandered into the bathroom and relieved himself after hitting the mute button on the phone.

Matt listened but couldn't hear a thing. "You still there?"

Inside the house, Chris hit the button again. "Yeah." He eased back toward the kitchen and took a look out back figuring that there was a sniper in the loft of the barn or near the garage. That's where he would have gotten. He looked at the bottle of bourbon that sat on the kitchen counter and carried it back into the living room, reclaiming his seat. Twisting off the cap he took a swig.

In the command center Matt heard the sound and immediately knew what it was. During his month-long drunk when he had first returned home from the army he had spent many an hour drinking straight from a whiskey bottle. It was a familiar sound.

"Guess you can figure that our problems didn't get any better after the boys…" He stopped; for some reason he couldn't bring himself to say the words "the boys died".

"Things like that can either bring folks together or make them drift apart. It happens."

"We just were kind of...there. Not really together or apart. We just moved liked robots. No feeling, nothing. Just there."

"It's understandable."

"And of course after that Placer woman spread her lies about me things here at the stables went from hard to damn near impossible. It's a hard time to be in this business around here." Chris took another swig from the bottle, feeling the warmth of the whiskey as it went down and began the sensation of blooming heat in his belly. He took a deep breath. He thought back to what he knew about the man he had spent almost two hours talking to now. It was almost one o'clock in the morning. "You got a ranch down south of here don't you?"

"Yep. Bought it when I moved here several years ago. Matter of fact I spent most of the day moving cattle down out of the hills. It's awful dry up there right now."

"You ain't kidding. We need more rain." He took another sip. "We went to talk to a lawyer today - about filing bankruptcy. We got into a fight about it at the lawyer's office. Guess I shouldn't have said that, huh?"

"Yeah, you should. If we talk to the lawyer he'll probably tell us. So that just proves that you're telling the truth."

"Didn't think about it that way. I'm used to being accused of stuff now. I think defensively."

Matt heard the sound of the whiskey bottle again. "You might want to slow down on the booze, bud. It really won't help."

Travis gave a little laugh. "Guess you heard it?"

"Yup. I know that sound well."

"I saw that interview you did with that Stavros guy. Gotta give you credit: not many folks would have admitted what you did."

"I just told the truth. It doesn't help. All it did was keep me away from my family for a month. It's a damn wonder that I lived through it." Houston waited. He didn't want to push the man.

"Okay." Inside the house, the man put the top back on the bottle and set it on the table next to him.

"So you were telling me about going to the lawyer."

"Yeah. Hate damn lawyers."

"They're like everybody else - some good, some bad."

"Oh yeah? Tell me the name of one that's not a blood sucking leech."

"My wife."

"Oh." There was quiet for a minute. "I forgot I heard that she's a lawyer. Sorry."

"That's alright. We're used to it."

"So he jumped right on it. Like he thought it was just the greatest idea. Marlena got mad because I wanted to talk it over some more. Said that she was ready to file for divorce, too." There was a crack in his voice now and Matt was afraid that he might have screwed up. He stayed quiet, afraid to say anything, and was wishing that Roger Mullins was there instead of himself. "Her parents never did approve of me, you know? Thought I was a war monger. That was what her mom called me. The war monger." He looked at the whiskey and how the flashing lights outside danced across the glass bottle. "According to her the only good thing I ever did was give her two grandsons."

_Now what do I say?_ Houston felt his hands get clammy. He kept quiet.

"We came home and I went to the stable and she came in here in the house. That's what we've been doing most of the time the last year or so. Can't tell you how many nights I've spent out there with the horses."

"They're good company." He realized his coffee cup was empty. Don took it and gave him a refill.

"The best company. Except for dogs."

"Yup."

"I spent most of the afternoon out there cleaning things up and grooming Ashley's horse Maple. Her parents gave him to me after…" There was another halt to the conversation and Matt heard him snuffling. "He hasn't been the same since then. She was really good with him. Even if she didn't have enough time to ride him every day she would stop by and pay attention to him."

"She sounds like a great kid."

"She was." There was the sound of a shaky breath being drawn in. "You know, I really don't even care about what happens to me now. I just want whoever killed my boys and Ashley put away. And Marlena." There was no mistaking the sounds of crying now; Travis wasn't trying to hide it. "I loved her. Never figured out why she loved me. We were raised differently, you know? I grew up on a ranch in Wyoming and she was the regular suburban girl."

Houston took a deep breath. _Where do I go with this? _"How did y'all meet?"

"At a wreck." There was a little laugh. "We were stuck in gridlock and I looked over and boom. That was it. Always thought that bit about love at first sight was bull." He stopped again trying to calm himself.

"It isn't. Same thing happened with us. But it wasn't gridlock. We were both riding fences after a storm. She was trying to move a huge branch by herself. The minute my eyes landed on her my heart did a flip. We were ten years old."

"That's young."

"Yep." He decided to try to lighten the mood a little bit. "'Course I was too stupid to fess up about how I felt about her. We've been married a little over six years now." It had the desired effect: the man began laughing.

Inside the house, Chris wiped the tears from his eyes and went back to his story. "Anyway, I was in the barn and got to thinking about what would happen to the horses if we filed. And if she divorced me." He paused and looked at the bottle of whiskey, then pushed it away. "So I decided that I didn't want to have to deal with it. Screw it. If she was done with me then I was done with me. So I got my pistol and went up in the woods behind the barn."

Matt began taking notes again.

"I found a nice place and sat down on a log. And looked at the pistol. After about forty five minutes I decided that maybe Marlena and I could come to some sort of agreement about finding a good place for the horses before we called it quits so I came back down the hill. Because really they were they only ones left that cared about me. Everybody else is gone." His voice cracked again. "When I got down to the bottom I saw something laying by the truck…" He began crying again. "She was…" The rest was undecipherable.

"I'm sorry." Houston gave the man a minute to collect himself. "So while you were in the woods you didn't hear anything?"

Travis cleared his throat. "No. But then I was kind of lost in my own little world right then trying to find the courage to pull that damn trigger."

In the command center Matt blinked rapidly and then closed his eyes. He had come close to killing himself on a couple of occasions back during his month-long drunk. He had never told a soul - not Roger Mullins, not even CJ. It was something that he had completely kept to himself and he knew exactly what the man had gone through. He felt movement by his right side and Strauss was pushing a tablet in front of him with pictures of Marlena Travis on it that had been taken with the camera on the command center. The flood lights from the trailer shone down and gave a clear picture. The body was positioned by the driver's side of the truck that was parked facing the house. The door on it was opened and she was on her right side, a large puddle of blood on the ground. It appeared that her neck had been sliced open. He zoomed in and looked closely at the wound.

"Chris, are you right handed or left handed?"

"Right. Why?"

"Because I don't think you killed your wife."


	4. Chapter 4

**04**

CJ sat back from the computer with a satisfied smile on her face and wondered just what Tamara Placer's reaction would be to the disconnection of all of her utilities - including her cell phone. A few keystrokes had her accounts in arrears to the tune of roughly $5,000. Although she was sure that it wouldn't take the reporter long to get the problems straightened out it was nevertheless fun for her to imagine the turmoil that Placer would endure during the process. She tapped the desk as she thought about her next move to make the woman's life a tad more interesting. Her cell phone rang and she was surprised at the name that popped up on the ID. "Uncle Roy, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I heard that Mattlock is trying to get a guy out that's barricaded himself in a house?" The older man had been through a rough few months after the death of his son Will. He hadn't seen Matt since the funeral. Although CJ had assured him that it would be okay, he had been afraid that it would cause more problems for his nephew.

"He is." She stretched and yawned, looking at the time. It was almost two o'clock in the morning. "So are you in town?"

"We're spending the night up at the cabin. Rosa and I were trying to decide what to do with it." He looked over at the Italian lady, Vince Novelli's mother. "I couldn't sleep and turned on the TV and there was a picture of Matt arriving at the scene. He looks good."

"He's doing really well - but he sure misses you. We all do."

"I've just been afraid…"

"Roy…" She paused and moved over to the couch where Sheila was now asleep in one of the recliners and she curled up in the one on the other end. "I think it might be good for both of you if you got together."

"I'll think about it." His voice was very quiet. "How are the kids?"

"Getting bigger by the second. And you know Catey can read now."

"No way. Time really flies."

Back at the Travis place, Matt continued to look at the pictures. "Chris, did you touch her at all after you found her?"

"I…" Travis thought back. The whole day had been so rotten and disjointed he couldn't think straight. "I don't think so."

"Do you have any blood on you?"

"No."

"Bud, I don't want to get too graphic here. But there's a void where the killer was standing and the angle of the wound doesn't match up with you being right handed. Look, we need to get that processed and well…" He stopped. "Man, she's still laying out there because they were afraid that you would start shooting at them. We need to take care of her." He didn't know how else to say it. There was a sob on the other end of the line. "I need you to come out of there so we can tend to her and get this straightened out, Chris." The only sound was that of the man crying. "Can you do that for me, bud?"

"How do I know they won't shoot me?"

"You've got my word."

"You know they're gonna throw me on the ground and cuff me after all of this."

"How about this: how about I meet you out there? I'm not gonna lie to you. I'm going to put you in cuffs. And you're going to go to the hospital for an evaluation." He heard a snort on the other end of the line.

"Fat lotta good that'll do. I can't talk to anybody."

"You've been talking to me."

"Well...you're different. You know what's going on."

"What if I can get you set up with my doc? He's a good guy. He was in the sandbox and knows exactly what we went through."

"Man, I don't have money for that."

"I've got you covered. Right now he's at Fort Hood but my wife talked to him on the phone about what's going on here. As soon as he gets back he'll talk to you. I promise."

"Why? Why would you do that?"

"Because you earned it." He listened to the silence on the other end of the line. "I've even got somebody that can take care of the horses while you're away."

"Okay."

"Alright. I need you to leave the guns in the house. When you see me out front I want you to walk out to me with your hands in the air."

"And they won't shoot me?"

"No." Matt looked to the sheriff who nodded his agreement and sent Lt. McKinney to pass word of the arrangements.

"Okay."

"I'm going to hang up now and walk out of here." Matt stood and removed the gunbelt and handed it to Don MacLemore.

"Okay." Inside the house Travis disconnected the call and set the pistol on the table, taking a deep breath. He stood and felt as his legs shook. _What the hell? If they shoot me it will all be over._ Slowly he walked toward the door, looking out the front window. He saw a tall man with a beard slowly walking out from behind the trailer, with his hands out to his sides.

Matt stepped out into the yard, his heart pounding. He had put on the bulletproof vest Strauss handed him before coming out of the command center. If Chris Travis changed his mind there would be a hail of bullets. His best option was to hit the ground.

The front door of the house opened and Travis stepped out onto the porch, his hands up just as Matt had instructed. He looked around, the brightness of the floodlights from the command center and all of the flashing blue lights in combination with the alcohol making him feel drunk.

"Chris…" Matt walked halfway across the yard. "Come on out to me."

Nodding, the man swallowed hard and started forward. After several steps his gaze drifted over to where his wife's body lay next to the truck and he stopped, a crushed look on his face.

"Bud, don't look at her right now. Look at me." The last thing Matt wanted was for the man to lose it again. "Look at me, okay?"

Once again, Travis nodded and began walking toward him.

"Alright, now I want you to turn around and face the house." Closing in the distance between them as Chris did as he was told, Matt removed the handcuffs from the back of his belt. "I'm going to put these cuffs on you. That's just to keep both of us safe, alright?"

"Yeah." The voice was a croak. Travis felt as the first cuff was clicked into place on his right wrist and then very gently Houston pulled back his left and applied the second. Matt could feel the man begin to shake as he broke down crying again.

After a quick pat down he put a hand on the man's shoulder. "Okay, bud. C'mon." He walked him over to a waiting ambulance and helped him step up inside for the trip to the hospital.

"Will you come with me?"

Matt looked back to Sheriff Strauss. "You don't need me here do you?" He stripped off the vest and handed it back to the sheriff.

"No. Thanks for your help. I'll catch up with you in the morning."

The P.I. turned his attention back to Travis. "Tell you what: I'll follow along behind you. Will that work?" The answer was a nod and Matt patted him on the shoulder. "Just try to relax a little, okay? We're gonna get to the bottom of this. I promise."

After the door of the ambulance closed, Matt felt a tap on his arm and Don MacLemore was holding out the gun belt to him, a sad smile on his face. "Told you that you could do it."

"I appreciate it."

"I'll catch up with you later. This old man is going home to bed." He gave the younger man a pat on the back and turned toward his SUV, stopping to talk with Strauss as Matt went down toward his truck.

Taking a deep breath he hit CJ's number on the phone. "Hey, sleepy head." He could tell from the sound of her voice that she had been asleep. "Travis came out for me and he's on the way to the hospital. I'm going to meet him there. Don't know when I'll be home."

"Okay, hon. Congratulations. Love you."

"Love you too, Babe. 'Night." He disconnected the call and punched the number for Roger Mullins, explained what had happened and asked for a favor.

A while later, Matt parked outside the emergency entrance of the hospital and escorted Travis inside. "Bud, I promised you that I would find out who did this. Now I need you to promise me something." Travis was sitting quietly in the exam room and nodded. "I need you to cooperate with these folks. I talked to Doc Mullins on the way over and he will be back in town on Wednesday." He saw the look that crossed the man's face. "But...he will talk to your doc here and help get things started for you. I know…" He paused again, looking for the right words. "I know you've been through a lot of crap. This is a chance to get things back on track."

"I don't even remember what it's like being on track."

"You will. But when you feel like you're running out of patience with somebody here, just remember that we promised to help each other, okay? And I will probably need to ask you some more questions." He stood up. "Right now though I think you need to get some sleep." He looked to the doctor who was in charge of Travis' case and who nodded. "I'm going to take these off now. You going to keep your promise?"

"Yeah." Travis sat still as the cuffs were removed and the P.I. walked back around to the other side of the table. "Houston?" He held out his hand and the two men shook. "Thanks."

"You're welcome. Talk to you later."


	5. Chapter 5

**05**

Matt awoke just before the alarm went off the next morning, confused for a moment. CJ wasn't snuggled across his belly as usual and it was then that he heard the retching noise coming from the bathroom. He went in to find her washing her face. "Rough start to the morning, huh?" Gently rubbing her back, he looked at her in the mirror as she blotted her face dry.

"I don't really mind being pregnant - except for morning sickness."

He grinned. "And the weight gain, swollen ankles and-"

"Hush and give me a hug." She wrapped her arms around him, laying her head on his chest.

Stroking her hair he suggested, "How about you crawl back under the covers and I make you some tea?"

"No…"

"C'mon. Maybe you can catch a few more z's." He kissed her forehead.

"Well…" She let him lead her back into the bedroom and tuck her in before he padded to the kitchen and brewed her a cup of peppermint tea.

Once inside the shower Matt turned his mind to the Travis case. Or cases. His first order of business was to delve further into the family. He also wondered why Paul Sanderson had been so focused on the couple when they had proof of where they had been at the time the fire started? Don MacLemore gave the impression that he hadn't been overly fond of the investigator and the PI made up his mind to have a chat with the boss about him.

A while later he pulled into the lot at the Fire Marshal's office and swiped his ID as he entered the building, being greeted by several people on his way to Don's office. As luck would have it the man was just settling in behind his desk when Matt showed up.

"Come on in, Houston. Have a seat." He motioned to one of the chairs across the desk as he sat down in his own. "That was one heck of a job last night."

"Thanks. I sure didn't know what I was doing."

"Well, Strauss and I were talking after you left. We share the opinion that if you hadn't been there it would have ended a lot differently. You'll probably be hearing from him later on."

"He just needed to talk." Matt could feel his face coloring and looked down at the notebook in his hands. "I need to ask you something. What was the deal with Paul Sanderson?"

MacLemore leaned back in the chair. "He was an odd one. Really a loner. And you know how these folks are around here. Always cutting up and joking. Hell, you have to or some of the stuff that we see can…" He paused and looked Matt straight in the eyes. "Most of us around here have had to talk to someone about the job - more than once. I have a regular appointment with a psychologist myself. So none of us think any less of you for what you went through." Matt looked down at the boot that was resting on his right knee. "If Whitaker had actually worked as a cop instead of just being a glorified figurehead he _might_ understand. But as stupid as he is, maybe not." Both men laughed. "Anyway, Sanderson was just a cold fish. I had received several complaints on him after I got this job and he was on my radar. We can't have people here who don't play well with others."

"So after the Travis fire you gave him the boot?"

"No. He quit. The day after the dust up with Chris Travis he turned in the file on the case and I found his resignation on my desk."

"Any idea where he went?"

"No. And frankly I didn't give a damn. I was just glad he was gone." He studied the man across from him. "Why do you ask?"

"Don't know. Just a feeling." Matt stood. "I'm going to do some digging. Is it okay if I look at Sanderson's personnel file?"

"I'll have it sent to your email." Standing, he reached across and extended his hand. "Screw Whitaker - we're glad you're here."

Matt stepped off of the elevator at the penthouse offices of Houston Investigations and received a surprise. Not only was CJ there, but their secretary Chris Chase. "Wow! What brings you in?" Since Matt hadn't been in LA much the secretary rarely had to come in to the office and handled most of her duties from home. He got a hug from her.

"I needed to catch up on a few things and after seeing a certain fire investigator on TV this morning when I woke up I figured that you might need me. And congratulations on the great job last night." She noticed the blush that crossed his face. "There's a pot of coffee waiting on you."

He gave her another hug. "Thanks, hon. How are Murray and Miss Lilly?"

"They're both fine. Lilly is in the daycare downstairs. She was really excited about getting to come here this morning. And she's hoping to see her Uncle Matt today."

"I'll have to see about stopping by down there then." He headed up into the main part of the office and hit the coffee pot, grabbing a bear claw from the box on the bar before stepping over the couch and having a seat. Punching the button to pull up BABY, he took a big bite. CJ settled in on the couch next to him with a cup of tea and a pastry.

The first thing he did was open the email from Don MacLemore. He couldn't put his finger on it, but the Sanderson deal was bugging him. With the file opened on the super-sized monitor that had recently been installed as part of the computer's upgrades, he took another bite of bear claw and started reading. Paul Sanderson was now forty one years old and had worked for the LA County Fire Department for ten years before becoming an investigator. He had a decent enough record with the department but there was nothing outstanding there. As he devoured the pastry he moved on through the file and noticed the further he got the more complaints had been filed on the man. There were a total of six; three of them had been added to the file in the last year that he had worked for the department.

There was a prod in his ribs and he looked over to find CJ holding the white cardboard box. "If you eat another one I won't feel so bad about it." She gave him a guilty smile and giggled as he took one and buzzed her cheek.

Holding the pastry in his teeth he accessed more information about the man and stopped mid bite as information came up on the screen: Paul Sanderson was originally from Redmond. "Where did you tell me Marlena Travis was from?"

"Redmond, Washington." She now caught up to what her husband was reading. "That's odd."

"Uh huh. I'm not a real big fan of coincidence. How 'bout you?"

"Not particularly." She continued to read along and after reaching the information about the former investigator's family they both frowned. "His brother-in-law was one of the inmates suspected in the shanking of Chance Anadarko - Marlena's brother."

"Holy hell. Where is this son of a bitch now?" He felt anger flare up inside of him. Chris Travis had been through enough in his life without a crooked fire investigator trying to pin the deaths of three kids on him not to mention making the fire department look bad. His fingers flew across the keyboard and he found what he was looking for: Sanderson was now working for a company in Seattle that designed, installed, maintained, and monitored fire suppression systems. "If he's as grumpy as Don said I bet he's not in sales." He delved further into Sanderson's life. He was divorced, no kids, and lived in a townhouse in Redmond. His only living relative was his sister Shae - wife of Brandon Moskovitz. Matt's next action was to learn more about the suspected shanker of Chance Anadarko. "Brandon is thirty eight and is in for second degree murder, attempted murder, and...son of a bitch." His fingers flew across the keyboard as he looked up the details. "They were in on the bank job together."

"Houston?" Chris stepped up into the main part of the office. "Sheriff Strauss is on line one for you."

"Thanks." He reached for the phone. "Hello?"

"Mr. Houston, I just wanted to thank you again for the help last night. And of course there's some paperwork involved." The last was said with a little chuckle. "I'm sure you have to do paperwork for Harris County from time to time."

"Yes sir, I sure do."

"Would it be possible for you to come meet with me?"

"Yes sir, I can do that. Will about fifteen minutes from now work?"

"That would be great if you can do it."

"I'll be there."

"Thanks."

The call was disconnected and he replaced the receiver. "Think my favorite lawyer can do some more digging on the bank job and all the folks involved in it while I go sign my John Hancock?"

"Uh huh. Go take care of your paperwork, Cowboy." She leaned over and the pair shared a kiss.

"Be back ASAP. Love you."

"Love you more." She swatted his butt as he went over the back of the couch.

Matt found a spot in the parking garage on West Temple. The building had undergone a major reconstruction and been restored to its former glory. The white granite walls that had played host to the likes of Bugsy Siegel and Charles Manson no longer housed a jail, but were now the hub of justice in Los Angeles. It held the headquarters for the DA's Office as well as that of the Sheriff.

After going through security he was escorted straight to Strauss' office and was admitted immediately. Although he suspected that the sheriff had had less sleep than himself, he looked full of energy.

"Mr. Houston, thanks for coming. Could I interest you in a cup of coffee?" He stood and went to a sideboard that held a coffee pot and mugs with the sheriff's department logo on them.

"Yes, sir. Thank you."

"Have a seat." The sheriff indicated a comfortable looking leather chair in front of his desk. In a moment he returned with the coffee and handed it to the PI. As he leaned against the desk he took an appreciative sip. "Guess this is my only vice these days. Quit smoking, quit drinking…" He took another long sip. "Unless you count cheeseburgers." Both men laughed. The cop walked over to the window behind his desk. "That was a hell of a job last night. Don MacLemore said he wasn't sure how much experience you had in negotiations."

"Not a lot. A couple of times. But last night was the toughest."

Strauss nodded and hit the coffee cup again before sitting down and leaning back in the big leather chair, swivelling slightly before propping his feet up on the desk. "When Travis called in last night I just happened to be in the dispatch center. That's how I ended up being on scene." He paused. "We've got some good folks on staff, but some of them…" There was another sip of coffee taken. "Some folks don't always understand that you have to respond to each call with a fresh perspective and a little more understanding in some cases. The reason I went up there last night is because I've come in contact with Chris Travis before - and that was before the fire."

Across the desk Matt propped his left ankle on his right knee and settled into the chair a little more comfortably. "And you knew that he was having problems?"

"I did. When I met him it was to discuss a horse. I put in twenty years in the Corps. Knew the minute that I saw him that he had seen some serious action." More coffee was consumed. "Now don't misunderstand me: he didn't do anything off the wall or crazy. It's just more of a-..." Shrugging, he looked for the right word.

"Kind of a vibe."

"Yeah. You know what I mean. And see, that's the difference. We've both been in war; had to do things that we didn't want to do and still get haunted by it." He watched as the younger man nodded. "Some of these younger folks we've got on patrol have, too. But some of them haven't and they haven't been in law enforcement long enough to somewhat understand what these folks have been through. There are some situations that you go into as a lawman that are remarkably similar to military situations and the outcomes can have the same effect on the people involved."

Houston nodded and took another long sip of the coffee.

"I met your boss from Harris County about a year ago at a conference in Phoenix. Nice lady. And smart." There was a nod of agreement. "We got to talking about you. Don't worry - it was all good. She thinks a lot of you."

"She's a great lady." Matt's mind immediately snapped back to not too long before when he had made the desperate swim across the Rio Grande with his cousin Will in tow. Both Francine Martinez and Matt's childhood friend Chuck Wylie had selflessly jumped into the dangerous water - risking the chance of not only drowning, but being shot by Mexican gang members - to help pull the two men to safety. He looked back up at Strauss who was studying him.

"And no I don't believe that cock and bull story about you two that Placer put out there." He watched as Matt's face started to color slightly and he laughed. "What the hell is her deal with you anyway?"

Matt felt comfortable with the man and bluntly told him of the encounter in the elevator at LAPD when the newly married PI had been groped and propositioned by the reporter. He had pushed her away and made it crystal clear that he would never cheat on CJ. She had tormented him ever since in any way that she could.

"And you didn't report it? Damn, man. You're supposed to be a smart guy. They've got cameras in those elevators! What the hell were you thinking?"

"You know that's pretty much what Lieutenant Hoyt said to me when he found out a while back. I don't know. Guess more than anything I was shocked and embarrassed. My track record with women wouldn't have helped anybody to believe. So…" He shrugged. "You have no idea how much I cuss myself for not reporting it."

"I heard that Lieutenant Hoyt got reinstated. Almost sad to hear it. I was thinking of offering him a job." He gave Houston a look. "But since you're still free…"

Matt thoughtfully sipped the coffee. "Well, you seem to know a good bit about me. I'm assuming that you also know that I'm constantly back and forth between LA and Houston."

There was a nod. "I do. It would be to the department's advantage to have someone like you on staff - even if you aren't here all the time. Your experience with Army Intelligence, being a private eye, and your work with the Fire Department make you a hot commodity - pardon the pun." Both men cracked up. "Plus I'm told that you're a computer whiz. Not to mention you seem to have a knack for crisis negotiation as you proved last night. I'm willing to share you with HCSO." The last was said with a smirk.

"Well…" Matt thought it over. He liked Strauss. The man was a straight shooter with apparently no political aspirations like Whitaker. "You know my partner in the agency might have a little something to say about it."

"Uh huh. I know all about the "package deal" as Martinez calls it. I've also talked to Patterson with the FBI. And Gunterson over at the ATF. And Oakley at Homeland Security. Even talked to a guy at DEA who advised me to keep an eye on my helicopters." He opened the center drawer on his desk, pulled out a badge, and scooted it across the desk. "The ball's in your court. I'll take the same deal you have with Martinez." He watched as the man in front of him thought it over and then pulled out his phone and dialed his office.

"Chris, is CJ still around?" He waited. "Hey. I've just had a job offer here."

Back on Figueroa Street CJ leaned back on the couch. "Somehow I had a feeling that I was going to hear that. So what did you tell him?"

"That I needed to talk to my partner."

"Your partner will back you whatever your decision. You know that."

"But I want to be sure that you're really okay with it."

"He does know that Martinez lays claim to you too, right?" She giggled.

"Yeah, we talked about that."

"I've got your back, baby. You know that."

"Okay. Just wanted to be sure...considering what's going on now." He couldn't help but smile as he thought about the babies that were on the way.

"Go for it."

"Alright. Talk to you in a little bit. Love you, Babe."

"Love you more. 'Bye."

He disconnected the call and looked up at Strauss who was grinning. "She says go for it."

"Good. I'd like to meet this lady one day." He stood up and picked up the badge. "Let's go get you signed up and sworn in, Sergeant."


	6. Chapter 6

**06**

After filling out paperwork for his new job, being sworn in, and signing the report for the night before, Matt filled Strauss in on what he and CJ had come up with so far that morning. "And I suspect by the time I get back she'll have some other info for me."

"I look forward to hearing it."

The two men shook hands and Matt left headed back to the Houston Investigations office. _Wonder what Michael will say about this?_ He snickered.

Once he had parked in the garage on Figueroa the newly sworn deputy went to the first floor daycare center that was one of the perks of Houston Industries employees. The free daycare was available to any employee - from the janitorial staff on up to Murray Chase, CEO of the company. He signed in at the front desk that was monitored by one of the building's security officers and went inside. It didn't take him long to find Lilly. The exuberant child was in the midst of a singalong with her classmates. He was struck by how much she looked like her mom.

"Uncle Matt!" She left the group and ran straight for him. He knelt down and was nearly knocked over by her as she threw her arms around his neck.

"How ya doin', Miss Lilly?" He held her out at arms length. "I believe you're trying to grow up on me."

"Aww, Uncle Matt. You're silly." She kissed his cheek. "Mama and I saw you on TV this morning. She said you were working as a fireman. But firemen don't carry guns."

"Well, I was working for the Fire Marshal. He investigates when folks do bad things with fire."

"Ohhhhh, so it's like a cop-fireman."

"Something like that."

"Well, I hope you catch the bad guy."

"I'm gonna do my best. Guess I better get back to work. Have a good time today, ya hear?"

"I will. And tell Catey and Vinnie and Mike hello."

"I will. Maybe you can come to the ranch this weekend. I'll talk to your mama about it."

"Okay. See you later." She gave him another big hug and kiss before scampering back off to rejoin the group. Matt nodded at one of the teachers and went back out and up to the penthouse.

When he stepped off of the elevator there was cheering: CJ, Chris, and Michael Hoyt were waiting for him as were Detectives Jennings and Giovanni. He stopped in his tracks, shocked at the sight of the five.

"So Strauss is trying to take you away from Martinez." Michael Hoyt held out his hand and the two shook.

"Way to go, man." Lee pounded him on the back.

"Well, I didn't go over there looking for a job. By the way, Michael - he was slightly upset that you were back to work. He was thinking about offering you a job."

"I may take him up on it. Word is that Whitaker is looking for any kind of excuse to get rid of me these days."

Gabby snorted with laughter. "He's on his way out anyway. Can't believe he's still going to try to run for state senate after that Albescu psychic mess blew up in his face." They all laughed, but Houston and Hoyt shared a smile; had it not been for Matt's own visions the killer that they had caught a few days before would have likely killed even more victims. Jennings and Giovanni didn't know about the PI's visions and that was the way he wanted to keep it.

"So did you get a badge?" Gabby knew that Houston was a sworn deputy for Harris County but wasn't sure that the LA County Sheriff would actually give him a badge.

Matt reached into his shirt pocket and held out the badge in the palm of his hand.

Michael laughed. "Well, I still outrank you."

"That's okay. I outranked you in the military." There was another general burst of laughter as Chris turned to answer the phone. "Just a moment. CJ - it's for you. Carol on line two."

"Thanks." She turned and went back up into her office to take the call.

"Oh, congrats on talking that guy out last night." Lee had seen the coverage from the standoff as he got ready for work that morning.

"He's a good guy. Just going through some problems right now." Changing the subject he asked, "So how's my boy Noah?" In a flash the young detective pulled out his phone and began with the pictures. Gabby rolled her eyes.

Michael's phone rang. "Yeah, Jackson?" There was a grimace. "Yeah, we'll get on it." He hung up. "You two have a DB on South Burlington. Get to work."

"See ya later, Houston. Congrats again." Lee shook his hand as did Gabby and the pair hit the elevator.

Hoyt followed Houston up into the office and over the back of the couch. CJ had left BABY pulled up and the PI began to scan the various pages of information in front of him. "So MacLemore reopened the Travis case?"

"Uh huh. He's got Rich and Rod looking closer at the evidence. But I'm looking into the guy that investigated it."

"Huh?" He listened as it was explained. "No way."

"Yup." Both men looked up as CJ came out to sit with them. "So what did Carol say?"

"I've got an appointment next week." She was beaming.

"You tell Chris yet?"

"No, but I thought maybe I would over lunch. Anyway, back to the case…" Leaning forward she pulled one of the tabs to the top. "Chance Anadarko's legal problems stretched back to when he was sixteen and got busted for drug possession. He got eight months of probation. Not long after that ended he got in trouble for a fight outside a bar. His parents had a good lawyer and because he wasn't actually _in_ the bar police were not allowed to test his blood alcohol level and underage drinking couldn't be proven. He got probation again - only six months that time. For the next few years he floated from job to job, got married, accused of spousal abuse, got divorced, and was brought up on charges of being a deadbeat dad. And guess who paid the back child support and got him out of trouble?"

Houston didn't hesitate. "Mom and dad."

"Ring the bell and win a prize." She pulled up another tab. "But that all came to a screeching halt when he got pinned with DUI and two counts of vehicular homicide. The victims were his parents."

"Wow. So how long did he get put away on that?" Matt leaned back and thoughtfully scratched at his beard.

"Eight years."

Michael shook his head. "That doesn't seem anywhere near enough time."

"No, it doesn't. Anyway, that's where he met Brandon Moskovitz. They were cellmates at the Washington State Prison in Walla Walla when Brandon was in for armed robbery. They both got released in 2014 and the bank job was done in early 2015."

Houston spoke again. "Was there anyone else involved in the robbery?"

She nodded. "There were two others." Pulling up another tab she pointed at the screen. "Kyle Weatherford and Devonte Jackson." Two mugshots appeared. "Jackson was arrested with Anadarko. They've never been able to track down Weatherford. Or the money."

"Is Jackson still locked up?"

"Yes. But after Anadarko was killed he was transferred to the Monroe facility. It's about sixty miles northeast of Seattle."

"What have we got on Weatherford?" Matt waited as his wife pulled it up. All three silently read through the information. Kyle Anson Weatherford was now forty two years old and had been born in Grangeville, Idaho. He had lived a troubled life from a young age: his father killed his mother when he was seven and his paternal grandparents had raised him until the age of sixteen when he ran away. It wasn't until he was eighteen and arrested for drug possession in Seattle that there was any trace of him. Drugs seemed to be at the heart of Weatherford's legal history. He had numerous arrests but surprisingly only three convictions, the last of which had him serving six years at Monroe. Nothing in the information gave any clue as to how Anadarko and Moskovitz had met Jackson and Weatherford.

Houston leaned back for a minute considering the facts. "I need to get pictures of Moscovitz, Jackson, and Weatherford. Could be that Chris Travis may have seen them or knows something about them."

"Hon, do you think he's able to help right now?"

"Well, I'd be willing to bet that he is: if it involves catching whoever killed the kids and his wife he most likely will be all over it."


	7. Chapter 7

**07**

"Doc, how's he doing?" Houston had been escorted into the office of Dr. Randall Forsythe at Memorial Hospital.

"Mr. Travis has been calm for the most part. He was given a sedative last night and didn't wake up until almost ten." The psychiatrist sat down behind his desk and removed his glasses and began cleaning them with a cloth.

"For the most part?"

"Yes. He got slightly agitated when he realized that his door was locked. But as soon as one of the nurses came to talk to him he calmed down."

"I'd say that's a natural reaction."

"It is. Actually he calmed down quicker than most people."

"Do you think he's up to answering a few questions?"

"I think so. He was asking the nurse about you when she entered his room. Let's go see if he wants to talk to you."

They went down the hallway and through a set of locked doors coming to a room on the left-hand side of the corridor. Forsythe knocked and then unlocked the door. "Mr. Travis, may we come in?"

"Yeah." The man answered immediately and as soon as he saw Houston seemed to perk up considerably. "I was wondering if you would show up."

"I told you that I would need to ask some questions. You feel like talking?"

"If it will get the SOB that killed Marlena." He eyed Forsythe suspiciously. "Is this the doc you told me about?"

"No. Dr. Forsythe is on staff here."

The doctor extended his hand and shook with Travis. "Pleasure to meet you."

The answer was a quick nod. "So what do we do to catch this guy?" He immediately turned his attention back to Matt.

"I need you to tell me what you know about your brother-in-law Chance." Matt took a seat in a chair next to a window that looked out over the side street.

"Nothing good. You know he killed his parents?"

"I heard that."

"Dumbass got drunk and was trying to leave. They tried to stop him and he ran right over the both of them and crashed into the side of the house. Not that I got along with them but that's an awful way for anybody to go out."

Forsythe listened intently.

"How did he and Marlena get along?"

"I don't know. I guess like a brother and sister. They fought sometimes and sometimes they were friendly."

"Did they talk a lot?"

"Texted mostly. There were a few phone calls and letters when he was locked up. She would put money on his books every once in a while. Send him packages some."

"So they got on fairly good. She didn't get pissed about him killing their parents?"

"Neither one of 'em was really fond of their parents. Those folks didn't seem happy unless they were fighting with one kid or the other. Or hounding me."

Matt nodded and thought some more. "When Sanderson was questioning y'all - did he ever talk to Marlena alone?"

"Yeah, he did. Right before I almost tossed him off the balcony of the hotel. Marlena told me to go inside, that she would deal with him. So I went in and was going to call the cops on him. About the time I picked up the phone they started yelling at each other and that's when I went out and shoved him. Told him to get the hell away from us or go over the railing."

"Did you ever hear anything about the robbery that Chance was involved in?"

"Not really. He wouldn't say much about it. Said his lawyer told him to keep his mouth shut or he might get more time."

Matt thought it over for a minute. "Do you think he talked to Marlena about it? And about what happened with the money?"

"Don't know. I was usually out when they talked on the phone. Or she would go into another room." He seemed to be getting a little irritated with the line of questioning. "What has this got to do with what happened?"

"Bud, I'm not positive that it does. There are a few things pointing in that direction, though. It's going to take some more digging." He reached into his pocket and pulled out the photos of Chance Anadarko's robbery crew. "Do you recognize any of these guys?"

Chris took the pictures and slowly looked them over. "This guy here is the one that they thought stabbed Chance." He held up the picture of Moscovitz. Next was Jackson's picture. "I don't know this guy from Adam. But this guy…" He paused on Weatherford's photo. "He kinda looks familiar. Can't place him, though."

"Okay." Matt took back the other two pictures. "You hang onto that and see if it will come to you." He saw a disappointed look on the man's face. "Did she have a computer?"

"Yeah. A laptop. It's in the bedroom."

"Alright. I'm going to take a look at it. Now I need to ask you about the horses: do any of them need anything special?"

"No. Their feeding instructions are on the board in the barn. I worked with the owners on that. Hard to believe some of the stuff folks think about how to take care of a horse." Travis stopped for a minute. "But Maple…" He looked ready to tear up. "Maple could use a little extra attention. He likes everybody but he really seems to prefer girls."

"Well, my two ranch hands are definitely not girls." He gave a chuckle. "I'll be meeting up with them there in a little bit. They're real good with horses and I guarantee you they will take good care of them."

"I've got to figure out what to do with Maple. I think I may know somebody that will buy Max and Bullet. But Maple needs...he needs somebody special to take him." There was a long pause during which he seemed to be trying to gather strength. "Since Marlena and I are talking about shutting it down…" It seemed to hit him suddenly that she really was gone and out of the crushed face several tears escaped to be quickly wiped away. He cleared his throat and started again. "After what happened yesterday I wouldn't be surprised if the owners aren't already trying to take them all out of there."

Houston thought about it. "Well, what do you want to do about that?"

"What can I do? If they want to take them it's their right."

"Do you have some kind of records of what tack belongs to each one?"

"Each one has a locker to store it and they have the key. But there's a list in my office in the barn of who owns which horse and pictures of each one."

"Do they owe you stable fees?"

There was a big sigh. "I'm not going to worry about it. Folks are going to be in a bind trying to find another place to board them. I don't think it would be fair to ask for anything."

"Well…" Houston stood. "If folks do clear them out of there and you're still not around...I can take Maple and your other two to my place and keep them there for you."

Chris looked up with the first hopeful look that he had shown all day. "Would you? He likes being with a good herd."

"I can sure do it. Got seven horses at my place. Three more won't make a dent." He held out his hand to Travis and the two shook. "I'll try to keep you in the loop about what's going on. Are you still going to keep your promise?"

Looking first at the floor and then Houston, Travis finally nodded. "Yeah. Daddy always said a man's word is his bond."

As he put on his gun belt back at the truck and started the engine, Matt waited for Don MacLemore to pick up.

"Houston? What's up?" The Fire Marshal sat down heavily behind his desk.

"I don't have any actual proof yet, but it looks like Sanderson was crooked."

"Oh, boy." Don listened as the information was passed along. "Oh, my God. I can't...damn." He rubbed a hand across his face. "So now what?"

"Right now I'm on the way to the Travis place to look through Marlena's computer and nose around some more." He hesitated for a minute. "And you might want to know that I'm now working for Strauss, too."

MacLemore let out a big laugh. "I'm not surprised. You impressed the hell out of him last night. He told me he was going to ask a few folks about you. Figured he would probably take you on. Fine by me. He and I get along good and this makes work between the departments on arson cases a little easier. Especially like now."

"I'll holler at you when I get something else."

"Please do. Talk to you later."

When Matt pulled up the driveway he saw that Bo and Lamar were waiting for him outside the locked gates and there was also an angry looking couple with a horse trailer giving them an earful. When he exited the truck he put on the LASD ball cap that Strauss had given him that morning, clipped the new badge onto his belt, and walked up to open the gates with the keys that he had gotten from Chris' possessions with his permission. "Mornin'."

"We want in there now to get our Lulu!" The woman was fairly screeching at him. "I called the Sheriff's Department and they said they were sending someone out."

"Yes, ma'am." He tapped the badge on his waist and Bo and Lamar's eyes almost bugged out, but neither said a word. "If y'all will bear with me a few minutes so I can find Mr. Travis' records I'll be happy to let you load her up." He unlocked the gate and all three vehicles pulled through. After locating the key to the office, he went in to find that Travis had things well organized and finding the file on Lulu's owners - the Tresslers - was easy. He had them sign a receipt and then went outside with them. The horse was out grazing in a pasture behind the barn and didn't seem at all interested in coming when her owners called. Mrs. Tressler attempted to catch her but the horse took off in the opposite direction. Mr. Tressler looked sheepish. "Sorry about her…" He nodded in the woman's direction as she made yet another attempt to catch the horse who trotted away again. "She freaked out when she found out what happened up here yesterday."

Not really answering, Matt gave a slight nod. "Does she always have that much trouble with Lulu?"

"Yep. That horse hates her." It was said matter-of-factly and Houston got the impression that maybe Lulu wasn't the only one who disliked her.

"Well…" Matt looked around and noticed one horse standing off by himself. "Maple?" The horse picked up his head and his ears flicked forward. "C'mere, boy." Eagerly the horse walked to him and gladly accepted a jaw scratch from the stranger. "Bo, hand me that rope over there, will ya?"

"Sure." The older cowboy shared a worried look with Lamar and handed it over to his boss.

"Maple, we don't know each other but I could sure use your help. Think you can help us catch Lulu?" He had eased through the pasture gate as Mrs. Tressler was screaming at the top of her lungs at the horse who simply turned her back and trotted away yet again. "Can you give me a ride out there, boy?" Stroking the horse's jaw again, he ran his hand down his back before placing his left hand on the horses neck and quickly jumping on. Maple turned to look at him but didn't seem to mind. "C'mon. Let's go get Lulu." Matt urged the horse in the direction of the mare and the Palomino calmly started that way. "Ma'am, if you'll go back to the gate I think we can get her for you." Mrs. Tressler looked aggravated but several minutes of chasing the horse had worn her down somewhat and she went back toward her husband.

"How ya doin', Lulu?" He talked quietly to the white horse who nickered. "Time to load up, darlin'. C'mon." Gently, he slipped the rope around her neck and began leading her back to where Mr. Tressler had dropped the gate on the trailer and was waiting with a smirk on his face. Matt slid down from Maple's back and loaded the horse up onto the trailer with no problem at all. In a couple of minutes the Tresslers were going down the driveway much to the relief of the three men left behind. "Poor horse." Houston shook his head and looked at Lamar sideways, a crooked grin coming across his face. "That woman kinda reminds me of one of your ex-wives, bud. Can't figure out which one, though." The older man swatted at him and they entered the barn where Matt explained that the feeding instructions for the horses were on the board before turning back toward the house.

"Kinda forgot somethin' didn't ya?" Lamar stepped outside.

"Oh?"  
"The badge? Where in tarnation did that come from?"

"Sheriff Strauss hired me this morning."

"Dang." Bo shook his head and grinned. "Old Whitaker sure will love that." The answer was a big smile and nod as the younger man went toward the house.

Houston made his way back over to the front of the house, thinking that more folks were likely to want to get their horses when no one was around. As he looked over the area where Marlena's body had lain the night before he called CJ at the office. "How ya doin', Lil Mama?"

"Fine. What's going on?"

"Well, one of the boarders has picked up her horse but I've been trying to figure out what to do when we aren't here. Thought maybe my favorite lawyer might be able to do some thinkin' on the matter."

"Well…" She leaned back on the couch. "I suppose I could get Mr. Travis to sign as a client and empower me or another designated party to handle that for him. I'm sure Bo and Lamar don't want to stay there all the time."

"Nope. I'll call Dr. Forsythe and see if he thinks it's okay and have him call you to get the ball rolling. Thanks, Babe."

"You're welcome. Love you."  
"Love you, too. 'Bye." He disconnected the call, then immediately dialed the number on the card that Forsythe had given him. After a short discussion he gave the doctor CJ's number and went up onto the front porch and found the correct key then put on a pair of nitrile gloves. The inside of the home was cool and dark. As he made his way inside he saw a bottle of bourbon on the table next to the phone. _Must be what he was drinking last night. _According to what Strauss had told him that morning a pistol, rifle, and shotgun had been removed the previous night. Matt looked around and didn't see any signs of a forced entry or any altercation that might have taken place in the house. Everything seemed ordinary and he made his way back to the bedroom. After looking around, he found the laptop that Chris Travis had told him about in the drawer of the bedside table. He took it back into the kitchen and turned it on, going first to Marlena's emails. He found a few from Chance Anadarko back in 2016 right around New Year's and noticed that most of them gave the time that he would be able to call her. Then after the robbery there were messages from someone using the name of John Smith. "Well, that's just original." He did some checking into the IP address and found it to be from an account in Washington - the Walla Walla area specifically. "Don't think maximum security prisoners get that much computer time." The only thing he could figure was that it was possibly a guard. He began reading the message:

_Remember the trips we took as kids? You should go there and look in the stable._

"Wonder if Travis will know about that?"

From the front door he heard the voice of Lamar. "Houston, we've got another owner here wanting to pick up."

"Be right there." He closed up the computer and took it out to the truck. As he went through the process of helping the horse owner collect his property, his mind kept going back to the email. It sounded to him like maybe Chance had told his sister where the money was. _And maybe that's why he got shanked_.


	8. Chapter 8

**08**

As he rode up in the elevator, Houston's stomach rumbled and he looked at his watch: almost 12:30. When he exited the car his nose immediately encountered a delicious smell and he looked at Chris who was leaving her desk. "Meatloaf?"

"Yep." The secretary walked up the steps with him to the interior of the office where CJ was setting out their lunch on the poker table.

"Great timing, Cowboy. Grab some drinks out of the fridge, please."

"Alright." He took a seat next to his wife and began opening the top on the plate of not only meatloaf, but mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans, and cornbread. "Oh, man. You did good, Babe." After hitting the food with a healthy dose of black pepper he dug in.

"So…" CJ was adding pepper to her potatoes. "Chris, I've got a little news for you."

"Oh? Something good I hope." The secretary was cutting off a piece of meatloaf.

"Uh huh. I'm pregnant. Matt says it's twins." Both she and Matt watched the surprised expression on Chris' face and then there was a whoop of joy and the couple received a hug from her.

"Are you sure it's twins?"

"Uh huh." He grinned as he tore into the food.

"Boys, girls, or one of each?"

Shaking his head with a mouth full of potatoes, he swallowed and replied, "Not sure yet."

"How far along are you?"

"Right around four weeks or so. And I really don't want anyone else knowing just yet."

"Your secret's safe with me. Oh my gosh! You two are going to have a houseful for sure!"

After a lively lunch with a dessert of strawberry shortcake, Matt went over the back of the couch and pulled up BABY. He had made a copy of what he had found on Marlena's computer and taken the machine to the lab at the Sheriff's office. Now using the information he had gotten that morning he accessed her browser history and saw that she had some interesting activity. GoggleMaps was one of the first stops and it was zeroed in on a US Forest Service cabin in the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest in Washington State. _Maybe that's what the email was talking about. _He couldn't see much detail about it from the satellite view on the site because of the trees. After thinking about it a minute, he looked up the park on the government website and found the information on the cabin. Built in the 1940's it had been home to campground crews as well as fire and trail personnel. It was relatively small - intended for no more than four guests - and was known as the Cottonwood Cabin. He saw as he read further that it did indeed have a barn and corral. "Bingo." So most likely that was what the email's sender had been referring to, but now what? It had said for her to go look at the stable. Had she? Nobody but Chris Travis was likely to know and Dr. Forsythe had advised him earlier that the man would be undergoing evaluations pretty much the rest of the day. It might even be longer depending on how it went.

CJ joined him. "I got through to Chris Travis earlier. He agreed to let me handle the horse problem for him. Lamar just left here with a notice that he's going to put up on the gates. Owners will need to call me to set up a time to remove horses; I also talked to some of them on the phone and advised them of what was going on and let them know that they were being cared for even with Travis away for a few days. Two want to pick up their horses tomorrow and I've scheduled it with Bo and Lamar. I haven't been able to reach the others but did leave messages for them to call me and I've also sent out letters to them - just in case."

"I appreciate it." He put his arm around her.

"Chris seems like a nice guy."

"Uh huh."

"So you don't think he killed her?"

"No. Neither does Strauss. But I do think he needs someone to talk to about things." He paused unsure of exactly what he wanted to say.

"And?"

"It's just a feeling…" Taking a deep breath, he leaned his head over and kissed the top of her head. "I've got a feeling that Marlena was not nearly as innocent as Chris. Take a look at this." He showed her the email, the map, and the information on the cabin.

"So do you think she went?"

"I'd like to ask him but the doc said he was going to be unavailable for a while. But now that I think about it…" He began working the keyboard and she watched as he dug into the Travis' financial information. "They have three credit cards. Two are maxed out and the third is knockin' on the door." He looked through the history on the accounts, specifically right after the date of the email. "There we go." Pointing to the screen he nodded. "She did go. And I bet Chris wasn't with her." There was a charge for the cabin reservation and then a flurry of charges at gas stations heading up to the area that was near Wenatchee, Washington.

CJ pointed at the monitor. "Look at the dates and times on the fuel charges. She drove almost straight through. There's a charge for a motel in Oregon. It looks like she spent the next night at the cabin…" There was a pause as she studied the following charges. "Then headed back south the next day. And she made a detour to Squaw Valley. What the heck?"

Matt leaned forward and pulled up a map of the area. "That's just outside of Sequoia National Forest." Both stared at the map for a minute before he went back to digging in the credit card records and his eyebrows shot up. "She paid $400 to a Circle Z Ranch." The next charge was for a stay at the motel in Squaw Valley again and then it appeared that she had made her way back to the house in Calabasas. "End of the road trip. Let's look at Circle Z Ranch." He pulled up another tab and entered the name, coming back with information on the business located just east of Squaw Valley near the entrance to the park. It was a cattle outfit and they also rented horses.

"She could ride horses all day long at home. Why pay?" CJ was inclined to agree with Matt: Marlena had been far from innocent.

"Houston, the ME's Office is on line one for you." The secretary stood in the doorway.

"Thanks, hon." He reached over for the phone. "Houston."

"Long time no see, _compadre_." The voice of Assistant Medical Examiner Raoul Jimenez came across the phone.

"How ya doin'?"

"Pretty good. Been enjoying the way you and Hoyt made Whitaker look like even more of an ass." There was laughter on both ends of the line. "I heard an interesting rumor this morning."

"Oh?"

"Yeah - that Strauss hired you."

"Well, as a matter of fact he did."

"Hot damn!" There was another round of laughter. "Good. Now I was also told that you're working the Marlena Travis case."

"Uh huh."

"So you might be interested in the autopsy?"

"Sure am. Has she posted yet?"

"She's due to start in half an hour. Want to join me?"

"Well, hell. Can't very well turn down an invitation to an autopsy now can I?" He looked over as CJ snickered and rolled her eyes. "I'll be there ASAP."

"See you." Jimenez hung up the phone and laughed again, wondering how Whitaker would react when he heard the news.

"I'll see what I can find out about Marlena's visit to the Circle Z. Have fun at the morgue." They shared a kiss and he went up and over the back of the couch whistling his favorite song.

Matt entered the building on North Mission Road and saw Agnes Bowen behind the reception desk. Up until about six weeks previously Lee Jennings' wife Bridgette would have been there as well. She was still on maternity leave after giving birth to little Noah William. "Good afternoon."

"Mr. Houston! How are you?" She beamed at the man who was not only responsible for bringing Lee and Bridgette together but had also helped to deliver their child in the elevator of the Central Police Precinct.

"Doing great. How about you?"

"Well, I'm missing my partner in crime. But hopefully she'll be back before too much longer."

"I'd say she has a good reason for being gone. He's a cute little guy."

"He is. Is there something I can help you with?"

"I'm supposed to meet up with Doc Jimenez."

"He should be up on the second floor. You go right on up."

"Thanks." He went on past the desk and hit the elevator up to the next floor. Jimenez was just down the hallway talking to a long legged blonde. From what Houston could tell he was failing spectacularly. She turned and walked away. "Crash and burn, huh?" He snickered.

"Yeah, you married guys don't remember how tough it was being single."

"I never had a tough time." He followed the doctor down the hallway and into the autopsy room where Marlena Travis lay covered by a sheet. Sarcastically Jimenez replied, "Well, you're just a special case, aren't you?" He cut his eyes at the fellow Texan and gave him a dirty look that was received with a big goofy grin. "I've been trying to get that girl to go out with me for almost two months. _Nada_."

"Maybe you should have chosen a more exciting profession. Hanging out with dead folks all day probably isn't something she wants to talk about over a candlelight dinner."

"Mmph." Shaking his head, the doctor went about preparing for the autopsy. Once he was wearing gloves and his assistant entered the room he was all business. "Alright, let's take a look at this lady." He pulled the sheet halfway down the body and began by examining the wound on her neck. Matt was watching closely. The wound wasn't as big as what it had appeared the night before, but to be fair there had been a lot of blood and he hadn't actually been able to look at her for dealing with Chris. He thought back to what he had seen: there hadn't been a lot of blood in the vehicle, just a little around the bottom of the door frame. So she had been facing away from the truck. There was also a definite void where the killer had been standing. He would have been hit by the blood.

Raoul measured the wound and examined the area around it as well as the edges. "There's a slight bruise here…" He waved Matt closer and pointed toward the center of her neck.

"So he pressed it against her before he cut."

There was a nod. "He did. Hard. And from the angle I can tell you that most likely he was-"

Matt finished the sentence. "Left handed." The ME looked up at him and nodded. "Travis is right handed."

Jimenez went back to the exam, making the Y-incision and began the removal of organs. He stopped when he got to the pelvic region and waved Houston over again. As soon as he got near he knew what had gotten the man's attention. "She's pregnant." The ME nodded. "Doc, I want a DNA test done against a sample we'll get from Chris Travis."

"You don't think he's the dad?" Jimenez straightened back up.

"I've got a feeling that he isn't. And that isn't going to help his situation any at all."


	9. Chapter 9

**09**

Pulling up behind the house in the Santa Monica Mountains, Houston let out a big sigh. It had been a long day without much sleep the night before and he was looking forward to supper, some playtime with the kids, and a good night's rest. When he entered the kitchen he caught the aroma of what smelled like Mama Novelli's lasagna. The kitchen was empty and there was not a sound in the house. "Babe?" Nothing. He made his way into the den and was immediately stopped by a wave of cheering and the attack of his kids, Tomás among them. After picking the three younger ones up and receiving hugs and getting a hug from the teen, he looked up once more and his jaw dropped: there standing in front of the couch on the far side of the room next to Sheila was Uncle Roy. The room grew quiet as the two approached each other and in an instant they were locked in a hug. Matt's eyes were closed tightly and he felt like his heart would explode. After a couple of minutes he pulled away and wiped at his eyes as did Roy. The elder Houston spoke first, his voice strained as he tried to sound casual.

"So I heard you collected another badge today."

"Yeah…" Matt's voice was choked with emotion. He couldn't believe that Roy was actually there and talking to him.

"I wanna see, Daddy!" Vinnie, jumping up and down, was trying to reach it where it was clipped on his belt.

"Hang on, now." He unclipped it and handed it to the boy who along with Mike and Catey examined it. It was then that Matt turned his attention to Mama and pulled her into a big, rocking hug. "I sure have missed you."

"I've missed you, too. And that beard looks really nice." She wiped her eyes as he laughed. Rosa hadn't approved of the facial hair at first but over time had decided that it suited him.

"So do I get a hug too, Cowboy?" CJ had a big smile on her face as he pulled her close, first hugging and then kissing her. The three youngest children did their best to get between the pair as they usually did but not until he whispered thank you in her ear.

"So I guess the lasagna that I smelled wasn't frozen, huh?" He looked to the tiny Italian woman who laughed.

"No, and neither are the breadsticks. You need to eat, _mio figlio._" She took him by the hand and the group headed into the kitchen.

Later on after the kids were put to bed Matt and Roy went out on the patio and the cowboy pulled a couple of cigars out of his pocket, handing one to his uncle. They both lit up and wandered down to where Cricket and Jasper were raising a fuss wanting attention. "I'm glad you're here." He cut his eyes over at Roy.

"I am, too. Sorry for being so damned stupid."

"You're not stupid." He tried for a little humor. "Now stubborn, yeah."

"Takes one to know one." The older man punched him in the arm and they approached the horses and spent the next hour talking as CJ and Mama watched from the patio.

The next morning Matt got to the kitchen table as Mama was loading a platter with scrambled eggs. He buzzed her cheek and took a seat at the table, cutting up with the twins as Tomás drifted in yawning and took a seat next to Catey. CJ came in from the laundry room and in a couple of minutes the whole family sat down to eat.

Matt looked across at his adopted son who had just returned from a business trip for his internship at Mosey Games. "So Tomás, how did you like Japan?"

The teen finished a mouthful of bacon and nodded. "It was great. But breakfast here is a lot better. I'm not a real big fan of having fish for breakfast." He made a face as the others laughed.

After finishing his meal Matt said goodbye to the family and made his way through the traffic to the office of Don MacLemore, once again arriving just as his boss did.

"Well, Houston: which badge are you wearing today?" He clapped the man on the back. "Come on in and let's talk." Leading the way into his office he took a seat on the couch and the younger man did as well. "So anything else pop on the Travis case?"

"Oh, you could say that." He told Don about his internet research the day before. "And CJ is waiting for a call back from the Circle Z ranch." Next he dropped the bomb of the autopsy on him.

"Holy shit." Sitting in shock for a minute he weighed the evidence. "And from what Travis said the other night they probably haven't spent any time together in the sack since the kids were killed."

"Highly doubtful."

"You know, some might say that would give him more motive."

"Here's something else for you: Marlena was looking at more than just national parks in her searches. She was looking _real_ hard at Tuvalu."

"Tu-what?"

"Tuvalu. It's a little island country in the Pacific midway between Hawaii and Australia and north of Fiji."

"Why?"

"You had never heard of it before today, right?"

"Uh huh." He then saw the wisdom of what the investigator was saying. "And probably not a lot of other folks around here have either." Nodding, he considered it. "Alright. So that relates to Marlena's murder. What about the fire?"

"I haven't talked to Rich or Rod yet, but I'd be willing to bet that if Sanderson didn't start the fire he knows who did. Think about it: we know that he was from Redmond, we know that his brother-in-law was a strong suspect in Chance's murder, we know that he and Marlena got into it at the hotel, and we know that he took off right afterward."

Don got up and walked around the room. "I could kick myself for not wondering why he left. But he was such an idiot that I was just glad he was gone."

"You had no way of knowing. As far as you knew he had just had enough of the job. It happens."

"What do you want to do now?"

"Well, I think that there are two people in Washington that we need to interview."

"Okay, I understand Sanderson but who else?"

"Devonte Jackson - the other member of the robbery crew."

MacLemore picked up the phone on his desk and called for Rich Holt and Rod Jessup to come to his office. The pair showed up in a couple of minutes and he immediately began to question them about the fire.

Looking highly unhappy, Rich answered. "We've gone back over the evidence. There are no fingerprints to point to anyone."

Houston piped up. "Or at least none were lifted. That house is gone now - torn down. We'll never get any from that scene."

"None lifted?" Rod pondered it for a minute. "You mean…"

MacLemore answered. "We think it might be possible that Sanderson was involved somehow with it. And he sure as hell wouldn't have lifted his own prints - if he left any to begin with: he knew exactly what to do to keep from being implicated. Who would think it was a fire investigator?" There was clearly anger in his voice.

Rich sank down onto the couch. "That son of a bitch." He looked to Houston who nodded. "Okay, how do we go after him? We've got no evidence at all that it was him - just supposition."

MacLemore looked to Matt. "We've got one hell of an investigator who conducts a wicked interrogation if scuttlebutt is right."

"Welcome aboard Houston Airlines." Matt tossed his bag into one of the closets on the G-550, taking Rich's and adding it.

"My God. This thing is…" The fire captain couldn't hide his shock.

Laughing, Matt showed him the location of the two lavatories, the galley, and then led the way to the cockpit. "You can sit up here if you want."

"Are you sure it's safe?"

"Just keep your hands to yourself and don't get all grabby." The rangy PI took his place in the pilot's seat and resumed the preflight checklist. Rich carefully climbed into the other seat and looked in amazement at all of the controls, watching as Houston continued the job of getting the plane ready to take off. In a few minutes they were taxiing onto the runway, the August heat shimmering up from the hot surface. Once given permission, he launched the aircraft smoothly into the air. An audible sigh of relief was heard from his companion and he chuckled.

"How long have you been flying?"

"Well…" He did a few mental calculations and grimaced. "Twenty five years now."

"Holy…" Rich did a few calculations of his own. "Wait a minute. You're forty, right?"

"Did ya really have to bring that up?" Houston feigned irritation.

"That means you started flying when you were fifteen?"

"No, I got my pilot's license when I was fifteen. Started flying when I was ten."

"Crap." He shook his head as the other man laughed.

The almost three hour flight passed quickly and the pair landed without incident, rented an SUV, and made their way up to the Monroe prison facility north of Redmond where Don MacLemore had arranged for them to meet with Devonte Jackson. After locking up their weapons, the pair were escorted into a room where the man sat shackled to the table. He eyed them suspiciously.

Rich started off the conversation. "Mr. Jackson, we'd like to ask you a few questions about some people you know."

"You can ask. Don't mean I'm going to answer." The dark face seemed like a rock, showing absolutely no emotion.

Matt decided to try his luck. "Tell us what you know about Chance Anadarko."

"He's dead." Jackson apparently thought it was hilarious but Houston had a feeling it was all for show.

"You know he had a sister."

"So?"

"And two little nephews. I heard you have three kids. Two boys and a girl."

"Yeah."

"The boys are ten and thirteen, right?"

"So?"

"You remember when they were little? About four years old? How much fun they were?" Houston could tell he was hitting a nerve. Devonte's expression had softened and he looked down at his hands. "And Christmas time was a blast, too."

"Uh huh."

"How would you have felt if your boys had been killed by someone when they were that age?"

"Man…" Jackson looked quizzically at him. "What the hell are you gettin' at?"

"Chance's nephews were killed about three years ago...when they were four and seven."

"I didn't have nothin' to do with that."

"But maybe you can help us get who did it."

"I told you - I don't know anything about it."

"You got picked up with Chance, right?"

"Yeah."

"And he was the one that was responsible for stashing the money after y'all pulled that job."

Jackson stirred uncomfortably. "I can't tell you anything about that."

"You and Chance got along pretty good didn't you?"

"He was alright."

"But you weren't as tight with Kyle Weatherford and Brandon Moskovitz." There was no reply but he saw the man's jaw twitch. Matt pushed off from the wall where he had been leaning and began walking around the room. "You and Chance had known each other a while, right?" After a slight hesitation there was a nod. "And his sister helped you out a couple of times when you needed money for your kids, didn't she? I've looked through her bank records." Again there was a nod. "So you kind of owe her." Devonte looked down at his hands again as the muscle in his jaw worked with more frequency.

"Man, I told you. I can't tell you nothing about that."

Matt's voice started the familiar descent but not in a menacing way. "You got transferred up here after Chance was shanked. Because they were afraid you would be next." Jackson stared at the table top. "And Brandon threatened you." Finally there was a nod. "We think that Chance's nephews were killed for the same reason: because of the money." Jackson looked up at him. Slowly and quietly Matt continued. "Four and seven years old. Beaten, tied up, put in a closet…" He walked around behind the inmate and leaned forward. The voice was a low, quiet, rumble. "Doused with gasoline and died in a fire." The man's head dropped. "Four and seven years old." His voice was hardly more than a whisper but the tone was resonating in the small chamber.

"Somebody sent Marlena an email. You know anything about that?" Matt waited but there was no answer. "They told her to go look at the place that her family had gone on vacation when she and Chance were kids. So Chance had to be the one to have it sent. I'm sure he didn't have access to a computer. But I think you know who did."

Jackson's head whipped around behind him and he gave the stranger a shocked expression.

"How the hell-?"

"I've read her emails, Devonte." Houston paused hoping that the silence would make the man feel like something needed to be said. After almost a full minute it worked.

Jackson spoke very quietly. "My cousin sent it for him. He used to clean up the classrooms and kind of had a thing going with one of the teachers. She sent the message for him."

"So it was about the money."

"Yeah. I went with him. It was up at a cabin."

"In the park. Yeah. We figured that out. We think she went up there and got it. And Weatherford found out somehow…" Walking back around in front of the inmate he stopped in front of the table. Jackson slowly nodded. "And he ordered Moskovitz to find out where she was taking it and Chance got killed in the process." Again there was a nod.

Silence filled the room again as Jackson weighed his options. "Chance told me a couple of days before he got killed that Brandon wanted his brother-in-law to get the money, give Kyle his share, and hold onto the rest of it until we got out." The voice was flat. "For a fee. He wanted a full share."

"You know what his name was?"

"Paul." He watched as Rich and Matt exchanged a look. "He was trying to find out where Marlena moved it. And he…" Jackson lowered and shook his head. His voice shook as he spoke again. "He did it. He killed those boys and some babysitter that was there, too. Brandon told Chance that if she didn't tell his brother-in-law where the money was that she was going to be next. Chance still wouldn't tell him and that's when Brandon shanked him. "

Houston spoke again. "It took them while but they got her, too." He watched as the news settled into Devonte's brain.

"She's dead?"

"Night before last. Somebody cut her throat." He watched as the man's head went down on the table. "We don't know if it was Paul or Kyle." There was another pause. "Do you have any idea where Kyle is?"

"Probably on that damn island he used to talk about all the time."

"Tuvalu?"

"Yeah. I thought he was making it up. It sounds fake."

"It isn't." Once again Houston and Rich looked at each other.


	10. Chapter 10

**10**

Houston and Rich got into the SUV and immediately called Don MacLemore. After a moment of silence he swore violently. "That low-down, rotten…"

Matt replied. "We got a signed statement from Devonte Jackson and had a talk with the warden. He's been moved into protective custody - under the cover of attacking us. We kind of staged a fight to keep anyone from thinking he cooperated with us."

"Good move. Alright, I need to talk to the DA about an arrest warrant."

"We're going to try to keep dibs on Sanderson here until the warrant comes through. I don't want to take a chance on him slipping away. And by the way - he told us something interesting about Weatherford. Seems he was always talking about Tuvalu."

"Unbelievable."

"So that leads me to think that maybe he and Marlena hooked up at some point. It also makes me wonder if he could be the father of the baby. The warden here has started the ball rolling to get Weatherford's DNA profile sent down there."

"Good. Alright, you two just be careful out there. I'll notify you as soon as I get something from the DA. And then we need to work with the locals there to serve it."

"You got it." Houston ended the call and dialed Houston Investigations. "Hey, Chris. Is CJ there?" He waited and in a few seconds she picked up and he explained the developments.

"Wow. Didn't see that coming. So maybe Marlena was planning to run off to Tuvalu with Weatherford."

"Seems like it might be a possibility. Anyway, I'm going to be up here for a while. Not sure how long."

"Just be careful and wear that vest, Cowboy. Love you."

"Love you more. 'Bye." He hung up and went around to the back of the Yukon and removed his laptop from its case. A flurry of keystrokes brought up both the home and work addresses of Paul Sanderson. He put the information into the GPS on his phone, pulled his vest from his bag as Rich took the spare vest that he offered him, grabbed a pair of binoculars, and both men double checked their pistols. Houston closed the back of the SUV and carried the laptop up front with him as they got back inside and headed down 522 then merged onto the 405 on the almost forty minute trip into Seattle. It was as they began crossing the Evergreen Point Floating Bridge headed west across Lake Washington into Seattle that CJ called him back. "Yeah, Babe?"

"I just got off the phone with the foreman of the Circle Z. Marlena Travis not only rented a horse, but got them to haul it in a trailer up to the Marvin Pass Trailhead in Sequoia National Forest."

"Did she now? Hang on." He put the phone on speaker and set the device on the console between Rich and himself. "Say it again so Rich can hear."

She repeated the information. "He also said that they picked her up the next afternoon."

"So maybe she hid the money somewhere up there." Matt looked to the fire captain who nodded his agreement. "Do they know which direction she went at the trailhead?"

"Uh huh - west." Back at the office she had pulled up a map of the region. "Mitchell Peak is near there."

"And she spent the night…" He pondered it for a minute.

"She did. And the foreman said that he asked if she had a camping permit and Marlena told him in no uncertain terms to mind his own business."

Rich added to the conversation. "So maybe she needed the time overnight to hide the money."

"That was my thought." CJ continued to look at the map. "I asked him what kind of gear she was taking along and he said she had a saddle bag. He offered to help her put it on the horse and she wouldn't hear of it."

"So the money could well have been in there." Houston and Holt looked at each other. "Tell you what, CJ…" He stopped, not wanting Rich to know about the old Russian satellite that he owned.

On the other end of the line she automatically knew what he was thinking. "I'll see about getting a lot more _detailed_ look at the area." There was a giggle that followed the statement, the result being a knowing smile from her husband and a confused look from the fireman.

"Love you, Babe. You're amazing."

"Uh huh. I'll have to charge extra for that."

"I'm willing to pay." There was a tone in his voice giving away exactly what he was thinking about and she giggled again.

"And I'm willing to collect. Talk to you later, Cowboy. Be careful."

"Yes, ma'am." The call was disconnected and he looked over to Rich who was shaking his head grinning.

"I really didn't need to hear that." He chuckled.

"But you did and it can't be unheard." Matt's mind momentarily slipped back to wondering about the babies that CJ was now carrying. When he exited onto Montlake Boulevard he brought his mind back to bear on the case. They travelled north past the University of Washington campus and bore left at the fork at 25th Avenue and continued on until they reached the light at 55th Street. Both men looked to the right. Two blocks up and across the street Seattle Fire Safety & Maintenance was located in a one story building on the corner of 27th Ave. The light turned and they hung a right, cruising past the building.

Rich grunted. "There's a grocery store across the street. Might be a good place to keep an eye out for him."

"Yup." The PI went on up another block and turned around. He pulled into a parking space that was at the far end of the grocery and faced across the street. His stomach grumbled and he looked at his watch. "No wonder. Kinda missed lunch didn't we?"

"Uh huh. Another reason I suggested this spot. Sign on the window says they have a deli."

Matt reached back for his wallet and handed the captain a hundred dollar bill. "My treat. I'll eat pretty much anything that doesn't bite back. Except anchovies. Can't stand 'em."

"Alright." Rich exited the vehicle and walked into the building as Matt pulled out the computer and ran a check to see what kind of vehicle Paul Sanderson drove. He had a silver Charger with a license plate reading BAJ2077. Raising the binoculars to his eyes, Matt scanned the parking lot and found the vehicle backed into a space not far from the front door. Looking around to make sure that Rich wasn't on the way back out yet, he pulled up the satellite program on the computer and took a look. CJ had it moving up toward Mount Mitchell. He caught sight of the captain coming around the back of the SUV and quickly closed the program.

"Well, we were in luck. Today is hot pastrami day. Homemade fries, too." He handed over a bag to his companion and then set his own on the dashboard. From a shopping bag he pulled two Fizzy Pops and a six pack of water.

"Planning on doing some heavy drinkin', are ya?" Houston popped the top on the drink and took a long sip before opening the sandwich. "Smells great." He added a package of mustard to the pastrami and pointed across the street. "Sanderson drives the silver Charger parked up there near the door."

"He always was a lazy SOB. Used to get pissed if he had to park too far out in the parking lot at FD." Taking a bite of the sandwich he thought over how the day had progressed and then looked at Matt. "So how are CJ and the kids?" The response was an immediate smile.

"Finer than a frog hair split four ways." The smile stayed on his face as he once again wondered about the babies they were expecting. "How's Sherry doing?"

"Fine. Don't know about a frog hair. Never had a lot of experience with that." Both chuckled. "So what did CJ mean about a more detailed look?"

Matt was chewing a large bite of the sandwich and used it as a stall tactic. What the hell was he going to say? He looked up to see the very person they were waiting for exit the building and go to the Dodge. "Hmmm…" Pointing across the street he popped the sandwich back into the box and quickly wiped his hands with a napkin.

"Well, he's put on some weight. And still looks like he's got a permanent mad on." Rich pulled the seatbelt across and latched it as did Matt before he started the engine and looked at the dashboard: 4:00. They watched as he pulled out of the parking lot headed back south retracing the route they had taken earlier. Traffic was much heavier than when they had arrived and Matt was doing his best to stay within sight of Sanderson without riding his back bumper. It was then that his phone rang. "Yeah, Babe?"

"Is the phone on speaker?"

"Uh huh."

"I got done looking at Marvin Pass. Really can't tell anything. So now I've got you covered." She knew that he would pick up on her meaning.

"Good. 'Cause I'm in a hell of a lot of traffic." He glanced at Rich who was wearing a confused look on his face.

"Where exactly are you?" She listened as he described their exact location going across the floating bridge and the SUV that they were in. "Is there a blue car in front of you and a red one next to you?"

"Yeah."

"Okay. I've got you. What's Sanderson driving?" She listened as he gave the details on their target's vehicle. "Got him." She thought it over as she watched Sanderson heading east. "Hon, I think it would be safe to let Rich in on it." She knew that her husband was debating on what to tell Rich.

"Yeah. I was about to - he looks as confused as a chameleon in a bag of Skittles right now." There was a burst of laughter on the other end of the line and then silence as he first swore the fireman to secrecy and then told him about the satellite.

"Son of a gun. Okay." He laughed. "Good Lord." Shaking his head he looked over at his friend. "You are just full of surprises, aren't you?"

"Sometimes that's a good thing."

CJ cut in. "Yeah, like now. Looks like he's making a side trip. He just got off at the Northrup Way exit." Matt switched over to the right lane and managed to get on the exit ramp. "He's going to Sandwich Underground. It's on the right just past the WaldoMart." She watched as the man left the Dodge and went inside. Matt pulled into the parking lot of a convenience store in the adjoining lot and waited. After several minutes Sanderson emerged from the business and got back in the car again. They followed back up onto the 520 and cruised comfortably in the right lane.

Rich was still shocked to learn about the satellite. "So how long have you had that thing?"

Matt snickered. "Got it right after CJ and I got married."

She spoke up again. "Uh huh. Thought we were going to end up in divorce court because he didn't want to tell me about it." All three laughed.

"So...does anybody else know about it?"

"Yeah. Michael and a few others. But please don't say anything about it."

"I won't."

Matt's phone began vibrating. "It's Don. Hang on, Babe." Rich switched it over to the new call for him. "Hello?"

"Houston, we've got the warrant. I'm on the phone with the Redmond Police Department and they are ready to roll. Where is he?"

"On the way home. We're almost there now." He gave the address and heard as the Fire Marshall gave the information and then laughed. Matt and Rich exchanged a look and shrug. "Houston, stay on the line with me. They aren't even two miles away from you. What are you driving?" He listened and then gave the officer that he was talking with the information.

"Don, we're pulling into the complex right now." Matt had slowed down and watched as Sanderson whipped into a parking place. "He's parked. We're going to park a couple of units down." After cutting off the SUV he picked up the phone and sent CJ a text. _Can't talk. We're about to move in on him. Love you._ The reply was instantaneous. _I'm watching. Love you._ He saw as the phone call from CJ ended. Don wished them luck and ended his call and Matt tucked the device in the pocket of his shirt before he and Rich struggled into the vests as they waited. In under two minutes two patrol cars came into view and two more approached from the other end of the complex. The friends exited the vehicle and quickly made it up even with the officers as they emerged from their car. A sergeant nodded at the pair.

"Sergeant Velasquez. I've got your paperwork here." He handed it over to Matt who stuck it down inside his gun belt.

"I appreciate the help."

"Two of our guys are going around back. Then we're going to knock. Hopefully he'll come on out. If not…" He motioned to his partner who was carrying a ram.

"Works for me." Matt looked to Rich who nodded his agreement. They formed up outside of Sanderson's townhouse. When the team in the rear radioed that they were in place Velasquez knocked on the door. "Redmond Police. Open the door."

There was a slight movement of the blinds on the front window then nothing.

The sergeant knocked and announced again. "Sanderson, come to the door with your hands in the air. We're not going away."

From the back of the house the team reported movement at the blinds on the kitchen window.

"Sanderson, this is your last chance. Come on out."

Matt saw more movement at the living room window and felt a wave go over him. "Y'all get back."

"What?" Velasquez snatched a quick look at him.

"Get back." He roughly shoved Rich and started across the small patch of grass in the front yard dragging the fireman by his vest. "He's going to-"

Back in Los Angeles CJ was holding her breath. She saw Matt push Rich and the next thing she saw was a bright flash as the front of the building seemed to rise up and then push outward toward the parking lot, a shower of brick, wood, and glass raining down on the four men who were sent flying out into the parking lot as flames shot out of the pile of collapsing rubble.

The force of the blast sent Houston and Rich careening between two parked cars and skidding across the asphalt. Both shielded their heads as a secondary blast erupted from the hunk of debris. Car alarms all over the complex were going off and as they pulled themselves to their feet, the pair saw the officer that had held the ram lying partially on the sidewalk and the lawn with a shard of wood sticking from his left calf. His right leg was missing from just above the knee and blood was gushing out onto the green grass. Both men ran to him and as Matt grabbed the mic that was dangling from the officer's shoulder and called in for help Rich was feeling for a pulse. He shook his head. "Too late for him. Let's see about the others." They moved down to where Velasquez had been blown through the windshield of a minivan and was impaled in the glass with half of his skull missing. Without stopping they ran back toward the unit, both wondering if anyone else had been at home. Flames were licking up from the debris and neither man could see inside.

Matt made it around the end of the building first with Rich following closely. The other two officers who had been dispatched to help serve the warrant were lying on the ground unconscious but alive. One was bleeding badly from a large wound in his abdomen and as Houston began applying pressure to try to stop the bleeding, the volume of the sounds around him seemed to suddenly increase and he now heard sirens approaching. Rich was checking on the other officer who didn't show any outward signs of injury. The symphony of sirens reached a shattering crescendo in front of the remains of the building and Matt had to yell at Rich to be heard. "Get some help back here. I've gotta keep pressure on here." The captain nodded and ran around to the front returning in under a minute with two EMTs. As they worked to stabilize the two officers the sounds of fire equipment being deployed could be heard and a plume of smoke started to arise from the pile of bricks and twisted siding that had shortly before been a townhouse.

After helping to place the two officers on gurneys and load them in ambulances, the pair leaned against one of the rescue units that had been sent to the scene. They watched as the remains of an elderly lady in a pink bathrobe were removed from the neighboring apartment. The complex's manager arrived and informed the captain in charge that the woman had lived alone.

Matt watched as small fires were extinguished from the roofs of nearby units and a few other neighbors were being treated for wounds received from flying debris. All in all the residents had been lucky. His attention was pulled away from the carnage by a man who placed himself in front of the two strangers.

"Captain Holt? Sergeant Houston?" The two friends nodded. "I'm Chief Harriman. I need to ask you a few questions, but I think you had better get checked out first." As both men began to shake their heads the chief waved over a pair of EMTs. "Not open to discussion, gentlemen." The pair was ushered over to an awaiting ambulance and then taken to be checked out at a nearby hospital.

Matt pulled his phone out from under the vest and punched CJ's number. It was answered immediately. "We're okay, Babe." He could barely hear her. "Are you alright?" Faintly he could hear a yes come across the line. "Call you when I can hear better. Love you." After some stifled reply came back he hung up and began trying to fill out the standard ton of questions that were a part of an ambulance ride. As they got further away from the scene he noticed that his ears were buzzing and he momentarily flashed back to the last time it had happened to him: on the side of a mountain in the Hindu Kush Mountain Range in Afghanistan. A young corporal had been clearing the trail ahead of them of IEDs. Apparently he had missed one of the devices and just as he gave them the all clear it went off and triggered four more that were nearby. The soldier had been blown to bits and what little remained had been showered down on the jagged rocks below. A red mist had covered everyone and everything around him.

Houston closed his eyes for a few seconds squeezing them tight to try to rid his mind of the memory. Rich saw and took him by the arm. "You okay?" The answer was a nod and in a minute he opened his eyes and gave the fireman a thumbs up.


	11. Chapter 11

**11**

"Well, you were very lucky." The doctor in the ER was studying the x-rays on the light box. "Neither of you sustained a concussion - a miracle if you ask me." She turned and stared at the two men. "You both need a few stitches but other than that you seem fine. We'll get you sewn up pronto."

Matt's ears had finally quit ringing so bad, but there was still a faint buzzing that sounded like a florescent light with a bad ballast. Naturally he had denied having any problems. He wanted to get out of there and get back to the scene to make sure that Paul Sanderson was actually dead. Looking at his watch once again he couldn't believe that it was almost nine o'clock. The blast had happened somewhere around five and he and Rich had been waiting in the cubicle in the ER for well over two hours. He didn't have anyone to contact about what was going on at the scene and was getting more irritated by the second. His head snapped up as he heard a familiar voice.

"There you are." Don MacLemore came through the curtain with the chief that had sent them to the hospital.

"Have they found him yet?" Matt hardly noticed the lidocaine that was being injected around the deep cuts on his right arm.

"This one's all business, eh?" Chief Harriman gave him an appraising look.

"Yeah, he is. Are you both alright?" Don looked between the two who both nodded.

Rich joined in the questioning. "So did you find the bastard or not?"

"Yep, what was left of him. Wasn't pretty that's for sure." Harriman saw the look that passed between the two friends. "Don has been filling me in on what you two are doing here. Sounds like this Sanderson was a real jerk."

"Yes sir, but I would have liked to have taken him in alive. There are a lot of questions that still need to be answered." Houston wasn't paying any attention at all to the stitches that were being taken now on the inside of his right forearm. "What did he use to blow the place?"

"Don't know just yet. He made one hell of a mess."

Don looked over at Rich who was gritting his teeth as a shard of wood was being pulled from the top of his right arm. "Are you boys going to have to spend the night here?"

The doctor looked up from her work on Rich. "I would prefer that they did. Just for observation."

"No thanks." Matt winced slightly now as the last stitch was being applied.

She made a face. "Figures." Going back to her work on Rich, she began irrigating the wound with saline.

Matt looked down where the nurse was now covering the stitches with a bandage. As soon as she was done he tried to put his shirt back on. "Un uh...you've still got two other wounds."

Don moved forward and looked at the back of the PI's arm. "Ouch. You mean you didn't know it was there? Maybe you do need to stay."

"Not happening." The voice was a growl.

"How in the hell did you boys manage not to get hurt any worse? Those two cops out front were torn up. The two out back weren't as bad but one of them is touch and go." Chief Harriman shook his head sadly.

Rich started to speak and caught the look that Matt gave him and grunted instead as the doctor began sewing up his wound.

"Just lucky I guess." Matt exchanged another look with Rich who nodded his agreement and stayed quiet. He wanted to change the subject and directed another question to Don as the second wound was being stitched. "So you decided that we needed direct supervision?"

"Something like that."

"I need you boys to fill out a report before you leave town. Since you don't seem to like it here and want to leave so soon." Harriman leaned against the door frame.

"Nothing personal, Chief. We've still got loose ends to tie up in California." The nurse applied the last bandage on his arm as Rich was receiving the last of his stitches from the doctor who looked up somewhat grumpily.

"Both of you will need to wait until we get your prescriptions filled. You need antibiotics and I'm prescribing some pain meds." She began applying a bandage to Rich's wound.

After they were finally released, Matt and Rich got into Chief Harriman's SUV along with Don and went to pick up the Yukon that Matt had been driving earlier. It didn't appear to have sustained any damage other than a layer of dust and they followed Harriman to his office on 161st Avenue.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Don looked over at Rich in the passenger's seat and Matt in the rearview mirror.

Both answered simultaneously. "Yeah." The chief shook his head and pulled into the lot of the Redmond Fire Department Headquarters. They entered the building and began filling out the report. Matt looked at the time. It was after ten. He wanted to call CJ again and bent to get the report done as quickly as possible.

Around 10:30 the trio left the building. "Are you boys hungry?"

"Yeah, we didn't get to finish our late lunch." Rich laughed. They pulled into the drive-thru of a Burger Nerd and it was then that Matt realized how hungry he really was. The chief parked the SUV and the trio ate.

"You know…" Don took a sip of milkshake. "I guess I should have bought a round trip ticket earlier. Didn't think we would be heading back this quick."

"As soon as we return the rental and I get clearance we can get the hell out of here." Houston wiped out the last of his fries.

"You sure that's a good idea?" MacLemore looked around at him.

"No - I think it's a great idea." Rich tossed his trash into the empty bag at his feet. "I want to sleep in my own bed tonight. Thought I was going to be singing with the angels this afternoon."

After returning the Yukon and getting over to the hangar where the G-550 had been refueled earlier, the three men made their way onboard, with Rich choosing to stretch out on one of the couches while Don sat up front with Houston. After an uneventful takeoff, Matt pulled out his phone and called CJ. "Hey, Lil Mama."

"How are you doing?" She had been restless all evening.

"Better now that I'm on the way home. We just took off."

"Is Rich with you?"

"Uh huh and we picked up a hitchhiker named Don." That got a laugh out of both CJ and the chief who had been studying all the controls around him with total fascination. "So how are you doing?"

"I'm okay." There was no denying the relief in her voice.

"You sure?"

"Yeah. Just come home, Cowboy."

"Yes ma'am." After a couple more minutes of conversation the call ended and he took a big breath and let it out slowly as his mind went through the events of the day and how much they still needed to learn. Devonte Jackson said it had been Sanderson who killed the Travis boys and the babysitter. But what about Marlena? Did she leave the money at Sequoia? And if she hadn't left it there, just where in the hell was it? And where was Weatherford?

Don broke the silence. "You boys sure as hell got lucky today."

"Uh huh." Matt once again changed the direction of the conversation. "I'm going up to the Circle Z tomorrow."

"Houston, I think you need to take some time off."

"Technically at this point I'm working for Strauss." Although his tone was stubborn there was a tinge of humor to it. "I think we have the fire wrapped up. The only loose end is Marlena's murder."

"Rich was right. You're a damn bulldog."

"Yeah, but I don't slobber as much."

It was after 1:30 when they landed at LAX. Rich sleepily climbed behind the wheel of his SUV after being told by the boss that he was to take the next few days off. He called Houston over after Don walked to his vehicle.

"Houston, I don't know how in the hell you knew that was going to happen this afternoon." He saw the uncomfortable look on the man's face. "And you know what? I don't care. But I want to thank you. I owe you." He held out his left hand and the pair shook.

"You take it easy, ya hear?" Matt tapped the top of the vehicle and turned back to his own truck.

It was almost 2:30 when he came in through the kitchen door of the ranch and reset the alarm. His arm was pounding, his head was aching and he was tired. After reluctantly popping one of the pain pills, he headed through the house back to the bedroom but stopped short in the den. CJ was curled up in their recliner waiting for him while Roy and Rosa were snuggled together on the adjoining couch. After considering the situation, he gently woke his wife. "Hey, Lil Mama." She jumped and immediately threw her arms around him. The older couple woke up as well and after a round of hugs he and CJ went back to their bedroom. He stripped and went into the bathroom, looked at the shower then his arm and then decided against it. He began running some water in the sink and grabbed a washcloth. All the smoke, debris, and death had him feeling dirty and gritty. He started with his face using only his left hand and soon found the cloth taken away from him as CJ took over the job. A few minutes later he felt considerably less grungy and was beginning to get sleepy. They crawled under the covers and drifted off almost immediately, Matt's last thought before sleep overtook him was that somebody had been looking out for him and Rich that day and as CJ threw her arm over his belly he felt like the luckiest man in the world.

"I didn't expect to hear from you today." Sheriff Karl Strauss took a seat behind the desk in his office. "Don MacLemore called me earlier and gave me the details of what happened up there. You are one lucky son of a gun." He put the cell phone on speaker.

As he drove down Saddle Peak Road, Houston propped his right arm on the jacket that he had folded up on the console. It was stiff and sore. "I just wanted to let you know that I'm heading up to the Circle Z Ranch at Squaw Valley." He brought Strauss up to date on what they had learned from the foreman there.

In his office, the older man swiveled his chair thoughtfully. "So what else do you think you can get from him?"

"I want the exact location where they dropped her off. I've got a horse loaded up and I'm going to take a little trail ride."

"Well, you aren't going alone. That's not how we operate here." Standing he looked at his watch. "Where are you right now?"

"Just left my house on Saddle Peak."

"Go over to 2610 Santa Maria. I'll meet you there and arrange some local help. I happen to be friends with the sheriff in Fresno County. How big is your trailer?"

"I'm pulling a three horse."

"Your mount against having company?" He walked out of his office, told his secretary he was going to be in Fresno County and headed for the exit.

"Don't reckon. He's pretty calm these days."

"Alright. I'm going to hitch a ride with you. No point in hauling more equipment up there than we'll need."

"You're coming?" The surprise was evident in his voice and the man on the other end of the line started laughing.

"Yeah. You don't think I would want to miss out on any excitement do you?"


	12. Chapter 12

**12**

Matt pulled up in the driveway of what turned out to be the Strauss home. He was met by a short plump blonde who introduced herself as Judy Strauss. She directed him to pull through one of the gates and park in front of the barn as she went to the gate of the pasture and whistled. "Cisco!" A red dun raised his head and snorted. "You heard me, mister. Come on. Daddy's got a job for you." The horse began walking to the gate and she clipped a lead onto his halter and led him into the barn and began saddling him.

Hearing a vehicle, Matt looked up to see a black and white SUV from the Sheriff's Department pull in. Strauss made his way over and gave his newest detective a good looking over. "Don said you got stitches."

"A few."

"Thought you were right handed." He looked at the holster that was on the sergeant's left thigh.

"Sometimes. Depends on which way the wind is blowing."

"Uh huh. You better be glad I talked to Martinez on the way over here. She warned me that you might be going lefty today with stitches in your right arm. She also said you saved her bacon shooting lefty."

Houston nodded. "Guess it paid off. She saved my bacon a while back."

"Mexico?"

"Yes, sir." Matt turned toward the gate on his trailer and opened it. "Jasper, scoot over. You're about to have company back there." To the sheriff's amazement the horse shifted to his left. Strauss shook his head and then went to finish saddling his own horse.

Judy went into the house and came back out with saddle bags. "You boys better be careful up there. I've got a poker game to go to tonight and I don't want to be distracted." Matt started laughing.

Karl shook his head. "She's not kidding. That one is cut throat when it comes to cards." He led Cisco out to the trailer and in short order they were on the road after yet another warning to the pair to be careful.

"I talked to Gwen Thatcher up in Fresno and she was sure interested to hear about this case. She's got a couple of deputies who will meet up with us at the Circle Z and a couple of Forest Service Rangers will meet us at the trailhead."

"Alright."

They rode along in silence for a little while, Matt thinking about the research he had done into Marlena Travis. He was trying to figure out where she might have hidden the money, and was also wondering about Kyle Weatherford. Where was he?

Strauss finally spoke up. "So your wife is a lawyer."

Nodding, Matt answered. "She is. Harvard trained."

"And how many kids do you have?" He saw the smile that lit up the younger man's face. "Well, at the moment we have five...kind of. Catey Rose is almost five, we adopted Tomás who is about to turn eighteen, the twin boys are almost three, and then there's Brian. Technically he was an emancipated minor, but he's as good as ours. He just turned eighteen and lives at our place in Texas." He shot a glance over at the man. "And we've got another set of twins on the way - but please don't say anything to anybody about it. She's only a few weeks along."

"Holy cow...how big is that house you've got over on Saddle Peak?" He burst into laughter. "God. Seven kids." Shaking his head he smiled.

"What about you?" Matt carefully reached down for his coffee cup and took a sip, the arm throbbing as he moved it.

"Judy and I were blessed with three." The tone turned somber. "Lisette passed away when she was three from leukemia. Hannah is twenty two and lives in Arizona. And Carson…" He stopped. "Carson was nineteen when he went MIA serving with the Marines in Afghanistan. That was six years ago."

Matt's thoughts swept back to his cousin Will who had been a POW in the same country. He wasn't sure if he should give his condolences or offer words of hope. "No news of him at all?"

"No."

"I'm sorry."

"Judy nearly went crazy when we were notified. It's a helpless feeling knowing that your child - even if he is grown - is missing."

"I can sure understand that. My cousin…" Matt stopped as his throat tightened.

"Yeah, I heard about that."

Houston nodded and looked out the window. There was a knot in his chest, the same one that appeared every single time he thought about how much hell Will had been through in his life.

The rest of the trip up to Squaw Valley was pretty quiet with the exception of Strauss receiving several phone calls. After the last one he advised the secretary that he wouldn't be accessible unless it was an extreme emergency. Blowing out a breath he shook his head. "Don't get me wrong: I love my job. But I don't love all the political BS that comes with it."

"That's the same thing Martinez says."

Curtis Atkinson stood outside the office of the Circle Z talking to the Fresno County deputies as Matt pulled up. After introductions were made Corporal Francisco Nevares nodded in Atkinson's direction. "Mr. Atkinson asked us to be on the lookout for a guy who rented a horse from him yesterday. He wasn't at the pick up point and hasn't answered his phone."

Houston and Strauss shared a look and the younger man pulled out a picture of Kyle Weatherford. "Is this him?" Handing it over he watched as Atkinson immediately began nodding.

"That's him."

"Seems that we're on the right track." Matt handed the picture to Nevares. "His name is Kyle Weatherford. He's wanted in connection with a bank robbery up in Seattle and is a possible murder suspect." He explained the situation as the photo was passed on to the other deputy. Atkinson looked scared. Matt turned his attention back to the rancher. "What kind of equipment did he take with him?"

"Well, we loaned him a saddle bag. He put water and some energy bars in there and then he got something else out of his car…" Pointing to a blue Taurus parked nearby he continued. "Couldn't see what it was." Deputy Susan Bledsoe walked over to the vehicle and called in a check on the registration.

Strauss shifted uneasily. "Did you see any weapons?"

"No, sir. But like I said, I don't know what else he put in those bags. He wasn't nice that's for sure. And he didn't know much about horses."

"There's a point in our favor. Maybe he'll get thrown." Houston and Strauss shared a grim smile.

Bledsoe returned to the group. "Sir, the car was stolen out of Los Angeles two days ago."

"I think we might need a little more help up here." Nevares shifted his gun belt.

"I think you're right." Strauss removed his phone and called Sheriff Thatcher directly. A couple of minutes later he hung up. "We're getting some air support and she's calling the Forest Service and letting them know. I think our best bet is to start on up that way."

Atkinson got into his pickup and led the way up into the park and to the Marvin Pass Trailhead where a pair of rangers who introduced themselves as Mark Scott and Emilio Escobedo were waiting for them along with a couple of horses.

"Has anyone else checked in and said they were going to be on this trail?" Matt dropped the gate on the trailer and whistled to Jasper who obediently backed out of it making room for Strauss to unload Cisco.

"No, sir." Escobedo informed them that a BOLO had been issued for Weatherford inside the park and that all staff were actively looking for him. He added, "But with him on horseback I doubt that any of them will see him unless he gets on one of the main trails."

Atkinson showed the group exactly what he had shown Weatherford the day before. "That woman took off across there…" He pointed west from the parking lot. "Right on the trail. After she got out of sight I can't tell you what she did."

"Is there anything that would make his horse's trail stick out? Anything unusual about the shoes?" Matt tossed Jasper's reins over the buckskin's neck.

"No, nothing."

"Mr. Atkinson, thanks for your help. Call in to the Sheriff's Office if you see or hear anything else." Deputy Bledsoe handed him a card as Nevares gave Houston and Strauss department radios. After giving Jasper's saddle a final check and adding a saddle bag and scabbard with a rifle in it, Matt walked in the direction that Marlena Travis and Kyle Weatherford had both taken. Jasper followed right behind him. Kneeling down, the sergeant began looking at the tracks. There were tracks heading both in and out of the trail, but the ones heading in looked fresher. He swung up into the saddle and the group moved out.

Before he had left the ranch that morning, Matt had asked CJ to keep an eye on the area for them with the satellite and let him know if she saw anything. As they started off his phone buzzed with a text from her: _Good luck._ He replied with _Love you._ Her reply was immediate: _Love you more._ With a smile on his face he replaced the phone back under the vest and after giving the sex of the expected twins another thought, turned his mind back to the job at hand. The group rode along quietly, radios turned down to a minimum. For all they knew Weatherford could be headed in their direction on the way out.

Not only was the group checking the tracks in front of them, they were also on the lookout for any that might go off the trail. They had no way of knowing where Marlena Travis had hidden the money. Apparently she had told Weatherford the location or else he wouldn't be in the park. Matt pondered whether or not she had willingly told him or if the information had been extracted at knifepoint. He also wondered if she had any inkling that Weatherford had been behind the deaths of her boys and the baby sitter. Normally he wouldn't have even really considered it, but what he had found out about the woman left him feeling like she was just as cold as Weatherford.

_Meanwhile..._

"Stupid horse!" Kyle Weatherford swatted at the beast that had been nothing but trouble since he had climbed up in the saddle the day before. He hated animals of any kind and they seemed to know it. Most gave him a wide berth. He had lost count of the number of times in the last twenty four hours that the damned thing had bitten him. Now it had successfully taken a plug out of his left arm and it was bleeding freely. As he reached into the saddle bag to find something to tie the wound up the damn horse kept scooting away from him. He hauled off and punched it in the ribs which made the problem even worse as the infuriated equine lunged at him and bit him yet again causing him to drop the reins. Seeing a shot at freedom the horse trotted a ways off leaving him without access to his meager supplies and the bag of money that he had finally found.

Pulling a knife from his pocket he cut off the sleeves of his t-shirt and used those to tie up the bites. He couldn't even get to the little bit of water left in the saddle bags to try to clean them up. Disgustedly, he sat down on a large rock and thought about the situation. Obviously he would have to catch the horse. There was no way in hell he was going to let that money get away from him again. First he had been stupid enough to agree to let Chance hide it and then they had gotten popped not even two days later. Idiotic Brandon had killed Chance before he found out where it had been stashed. It didn't take much to figure out that he had told his sister where it was and Brandon being the dumbass that he was had gotten that jerk of a brother-in-law of his to try to find out where it was since he lived in LA. All he had accomplished was to kill three kids, burn a house down and almost get tossed off a hotel walkway by the kids' dad. And that was after he had told Marlena that the kids had been killed because of the money. What a stupid move!

Kyle grinned as he thought about how he had played her using the ruse that he had started four months earlier, saying that he was Chance's friend and came to see how she was doing. The concerned act had done the trick. It didn't take long before she told him that her marriage was over and she was ready to make a clean start. That's when he had brought up Tuvalu and she had immediately taken to the idea. Unfortunately she didn't want to tell him where the money was - something that made him think that she had already helped herself to some of it. He had wined her, dined her, bedded her and then finally the other night she had told him where it was - right before she told him that she was pregnant and it was his. That was the last straw. There was no way in hell he wanted her or a brat. When he told her as much she started getting loud, something else that he didn't want. He had gotten a look at her husband and had done his best to stay clear of him. Her outburst was cut short when he sliced her throat open. His trip back to the car that was parked near the end of the driveway had been a quick one and he stopped off behind a gas station on Mulholland and ditched the bloody clothes he was wearing.

A quick trip to a grocery had been next and he had bought what he thought would be enough for a short trip to pick up the money. Protein bars might be healthy but they sure as hell didn't fill him up. Now the one bar that was left and the one bottle of water were in the saddle bag on the damn horse. He looked up and the horse appeared to be dozing a little ways off. Quietly, he got to his feet and started over to it snatching up one of the long reins just as the horse sensed that he was nearby. It was enough. Gritting through the pain in his arm he clambered back up on the animal's back, deciding that he was staying there until he got to someplace to steal another car. He grabbed the food out of the bag and ate the bar, thinking to himself that when he got to Tuvalu it was going to be different. A lot different.

He finished the bar, drank down half of the water and then tried to figure out which way he was supposed to go. Things had gotten turned around on him during the night and when he had finally found the bag of money just before sunrise he had been so excited that he hadn't paid any attention to which direction the sun had come from. He hated the outdoors. His grandfather had tried to teach him about things like that but Kyle never wasted his time on the old fool. Now however, he wished that maybe he had listened just a little bit. Turning around on the horse he picked what looked like a familiar patch of trees and started off.

Matt studied the trail ahead of him while Strauss and Escobedo were watching to the side for any sign of a detour. So far there had been nothing out of the ordinary. As he rode he thought about what Atkinson had said: Weatherford hadn't answered his phone. He looked to Strauss. "Have we got Weatherford's number?"

Bledsoe spoke up. "I do."

He reached into his vest for his phone. "What is it?" She rattled off the number and he dialed it. No answer. He texted the number to CJ and asked her to run a check on it and see if she could pinpoint the location. Strauss had noticed the texting and gave him a questioning look as he put the phone away. "I'm letting CJ take a stab at it."

"Ah. The package deal kicks in." He gave a chuckle.

A few yards further Matt stopped and pointed. "Looks like somebody cut off toward the south here." He and the sheriff studied the tracks.

Strauss nodded. "Looks like the same hoofprint to me. What do you think?"

"I believe so." He quickly dismounted and walked ahead a few yards in front of them and came back. "I think that's it. The tracks up ahead look older." Mounting the stallion again, he nudged him off the trail and they continued on through the rougher terrain. A little further on they came to a dry creek bed.

Ranger Mark Scott spoke up. "That's Rowell Creek."

Leaning over the left side of Jasper's neck, Matt studied the ground. It appeared to be disturbed and he eased the stallion ahead a few steps and nodded as he sat back up. "He followed the creek." Matt's phone buzzed and he received a text from CJ: _Can't find the exact location but he is in that general area. Want me to try to sell him some aluminum siding? _He snickered and looked to Strauss. "CJ says he's in this general area. She wants to know if we want her to try to sell him some aluminum siding?"

There was a general titter of laughter from the group and the sheriff nodded. "Might as well." They all waited as he sent the message back: _Go for it. _ While they waited, they urged the horses forward and continued to follow the tracks. In a couple of minutes there was another text. _ He didn't answer. I'll try again in a few minutes._ He agreed and the group pressed on.

Kyle was hot, tired, thirsty, and his arm was throbbing. The bleeding had finally stopped from the bites but now flies had found him and were doing their best to get into the wounds. He pulled out his phone and turned it on, hoping that he might be able to use the navigation app to figure out which way he should go. After several minutes of waiting for the page to load he finally figured out that he had been heading east - the wrong direction. He swore violently and turned the horse back north. If he could just find the damn creek he thought he could get back to the parking area where he had been dropped off. Then all he had to do was make a phone call, get picked up, and get the hell out of there. Just as he was about to turn the phone off it rang. "Who the hell is that?" Shrugging, he answered. "Hello?"

"Mr. Weatherford, this is Janie Simkirk with America's Best Home Improvement Center. We're pleased to tell you that you have been chosen to receive a free $1,000 voucher for your choice of any of our premium siding products. Congratulations!"

"Not interested." He started to hang up.

"If you would prefer not to take us up on the siding we're also giving away an all expense paid vacation to the beautiful country of Tuvalu."

"You are?" He couldn't believe his luck. If he could get there for free that would give him that much more money.

"We are. Now Tuvalu is a little known island paradise nestled in the Pacific Ocean. We'll provide roundtrip airfare, lodging, meal vouchers, and a free parasailing adventure." CJ looked to Michael Hoyt who encouraged her to keep the man talking.

"In addition there is a third giveaway that you are entitled to enter. Just by picking up the phone today you qualified for our Australian Outback adventure. It includes seven days and nights at a luxury hotel in Queensland, a visit to the nation's most popular crocodile farm, scuba lessons, and a trip to the Great Barrier Reef. Can I count you in?"

Weatherford couldn't believe his luck. Why hadn't he gotten a call like that a few days back? "Yeah, I guess so. But what do I have to do?"

Hoyt was having triangulation run on the call and was nodding at CJ to continue.

"Sir, you've already completed half of the qualifications simply by answering the phone. If you complete a short survey you will earn five extra chances at the Australian adventure." She rolled her eyes, unable to believe that the man on the other end of the call was so stupid.

"Sure, go ahead." Kyle leaned back a little in the saddle, stopping the horse so as not to lose the good signal that he now had. He pulled out the bottle of water and began sipping it as he lied his ass off about how great America's Best Home Improvement products were.

A half mile down the creek bed Matt's phone buzzed again with a text from none other than Michael Hoyt. _We've got coordinates on him. 36.712393, -118.750476. _He texted back: _Thanks._ "Sheriff, we've got GPS coordinates on him. Apparently he answered his phone."

"Son of a bitch." He watched as his newest detective punched in the coordinates on his navigation app and leaned over to show him.

"He's down southwest of here near Gannon Creek. Less than a mile." The group huddled around and made a plan.


	13. Chapter 13

**13**

"How long is this survey? I thought you said it was short?" Kyle was thirsty again and the water was gone.

"We're almost done." CJ was racking her brain trying to come up with any other possible questions. Michael shook his head as he snickered. How could anyone be so stupid? He looked up as Roy came up into the office. CJ frantically waved him over and as Weatherford stammered out an answer to one of her questions, she muted the phone and asked Roy to pull up the coordinates for her on the satellite program while she continued to distract the bank robber.

Going over the back of the couch, the elder Houston sat down in front of BABY and typed in the coordinates that Michael gave him and zeroed in on a man on horseback. He zoomed out slightly and could see as several other riders were just north of him and fanned out to approach him covering every possible avenue of escape he might try. The rocky slope behind him ended in a steep drop off. There was no escape for him to the south. Roy nodded his approval and scanned the riders finding Matt almost immediately. Speaking quietly he pointed to the screen. "Matt's riding Jasper."

Hoyt sat down next to him and watched. "This looks like something out of an old western."

"Nope. They didn't have cell phones back then. Or satellites." He shot the cop a sideways glance and received a punch in the arm. Both men heard as CJ tried to keep Weatherford on the phone.

"But sir, we're almost finished. You're so close to...hello?" She shrugged and came over the back of the couch to sit between the two men. "If he had just answered a few more questions he would have won...nothing." All three burst into laughter but soon got quiet as they watched the monitor in front of them.

Matt and Strauss had teamed up and were heading toward Weatherford from an eastern angle. The two rangers were coming at him straight on and the Fresno deputies were angling in from the west. They both glanced up as a helicopter from Fresno could now be heard. "Don't really need that now. But maybe it will distract him." The sheriff nodded his agreement and as they came to the edge of the treeline they could make out the man they were looking for: Weatherford was atop a black horse that apparently wasn't fond of him. Every few steps it was attempting to turn and bite him. He was so busy battling the horse that he didn't see the six people moving in on him. When he did, his mouth went slack.

"Kyle Weatherford…" Strauss' voice boomed out across the terrain. The look of shock on the man's face was enough to make him want to laugh.

The inexperienced rider tried to get the horse to turn sharply back to the south but the irritated gelding was having none of it and started to buck and then rear up on his hind legs. After a minute of the behavior, Weatherford grabbed the saddlebag and jumped from the horse's back. It immediately trotted away from him as he scrambled up the ridge and scooted behind a group of boulders. Reaching into the bag he pulled out the pistol that he had removed from the car and slipped into the pack right before leaving the Circle Z. He hadn't really planned on having to use the thing - a cheap pawn shop purchase. Hell, he had never even heard of the manufacturer before. It held ten 9mm rounds. Now that he had it in his hands and needed to use it he noticed how crappy it looked. There was a small crack in the plastic near the bottom of the grip - another detail he hadn't noticed until he reflexively squeezed it tightly and was pinched. "Shit!"

Down at the base of the ridge, Matt wasn't happy that their target had made it behind the boulders. It gave him an advantage: he now had cover and they didn't. Apparently the same thought had occurred to Strauss and without a word the two men dismounted. Matt pulled the rifle from the scabbard and quietly spoke to Jasper. "Go on. Get." He gave the stallion a swat and the horse jogged off a little ways. Knowing that all he had to do was whistle to have Jasper come back to him, the sergeant was more interested in keeping the horse out of gun range. The stallion was soon followed by Cisco as Strauss did the same and both men went to their bellies looking up the rocky slope towards the boulders. As the pair looked to their right they saw that their companions had followed suit.

Back at Houston Investigations CJ, Roy, and Michael were glued to the monitor. The elder Houston broke the silence. "They've got him out-numbered. Wonder if he has a gun?"

CJ leaned forward and changed the angle of the satellite so that it was now behind Weatherford. She nodded. "Yep." She thought about texting Matt to tell him but decided that the group was probably working on the assumption that he did in fact have a weapon and didn't need any other distractions.

"Wanna try your luck at negotiations again?" Strauss didn't take his eyes off of the boulders where their target had disappeared.

"Well…" Matt studied the area through the scope on the rifle. He and Strauss were closest to Weatherford so obviously it would have to be one of them to try to talk the man out. "I can try. But I gotta tell you that I really don't have a good feeling about it."

"Do what you can." He reached back for the radio and quietly informed their partners of what they were going to try.

Taking a big breath, Matt called out to the man. "Hey, Kyle? I think you oughta just come on out of there. No need for anybody to get hurt."

Behind the boulder, Weatherford cursed quietly. How in the hell had they found him? He turned on his phone again and hit GoggleMaps. He found their location and looked at the area. How damn stupid had he been to get off the horse and come up there? There was no way out except to head right into the group that was after him. From what he could see there was a steep drop on the south side of the ridge. He should have stayed on the goddamned horse. It was then that he heard the helicopter that was now circling them.

"Kyle, it's getting kind of warm out here. Bet you're thirsty. We've got plenty of water. All you have to do is come on out."

Weatherford shook his head and looked behind him. The satellite view of the map hadn't shown any way down off of the ridge but maybe - just maybe there was. He licked his parched lips and eyed the helicopter. Any move he made they would report to whoever the hell it was that was after him. Reaching into the bag he pulled out the money. He ran his hands over the edges of the bills and riffled them, the smell intoxicating to him. _Nothing like the smell of money._

Down below Matt continued to scan the boulders and listened as Strauss queried the others if they could see any movement behind the boulders and received negative answers. "Kyle, I'm sure you've noticed that there's no way off that ridge. Just put your hands in the air and walk on out. Real simple. We'll get you out of this heat and get you some water."

From behind the rock there was suddenly a frustrated scream as Weatherford popped up over the center boulder of the group and fired a shot in Houston's direction. He and Karl both ducked their heads as the bullet struck into the loose dirt and rock right between them.

"You know…" Strauss continued to look up the hill. "I don't _want _to shoot this guy, but he's making it real easy for me to think about changing my mind."

"Uh huh." Now they knew for sure that the man was armed. All he had taken with him behind the boulder was a saddle bag. As unprepared as he seemed to be, Matt wondered how much ammo he had with him. His gut was telling him that it probably wasn't much and he posed the question to Strauss.

"That's a good point." They both watched as the helicopter made yet another circle around behind the ridge and moved in closer. There was another shot from Weatherford and the helicopter suddenly gained altitude and swung further away. "Guess he didn't care for that."

"And that might just be a way to get to him. If they can keep him distracted maybe we can edge up and get the drop on him."

Nodding, Strauss radioed Bledsoe and made the suggestion. She in turn contacted the pilot and arranged for him to try to get their target's attention by approaching from the southwest - the opposite direction from which Houston and Strauss were in. In a couple of minutes they watched as the chopper started in toward him, slowly approaching and when the pilot notified them that he had Weatherford's attention the two men quickly advanced up the ridge as quietly as they could on the sliding rock. Another shot was fired at the helicopter and the pilot backed away but stayed close enough that he was still a distraction. Houston and Strauss exchanged a look. Matt took a deep breath. "On three?"

"Yup." Strauss had his pistol at the ready as the new detective held the rifle at the ready. "One...two...three." They sprang around the end of the boulder, both with Kyle Weatherford in their sights. The sheriff's voice boomed out once again. "Weatherford! Drop it and hit the ground!"

The Kyle spun around with a shocked look on his face that turned to a sob. In one swift movement he raised the pistol to his chin and pulled the trigger, promptly dropping to the ground. What was left of his head landed on several packets of money and as Houston and Strauss advanced on him with guns still leveled, blood oozed out onto the bills along with gray matter. Holstering his weapon as Matt covered him, the sheriff checked needlessly for a pulse and then turned away with a sickened look on his face.

Back in Los Angeles there was a collective sigh of relief from the three people on the couch. They could see as Matt loosened the velcro on his vest and removed the phone from his pocket. CJ picked up her cell before the call ever went through and answered it instantly.

"It's all over. He shot himself in the head." Matt turned to look south across the beauty of the national park.

"Yeah, we were watching on the satellite."

"Not sure how long this is going to take but I'll be home as soon as I can."

"I'll be waiting for you, Cowboy. Love you."

"Love you more, Babe." He clicked off the call and looked at Strauss who was just ending a call to his wife as well.

"Guess now she can enjoy her poker game." The sheriff gave a little laugh and then turned to look back at the bloody heap that had been Kyle Weatherford, shook his head, and then turned back to the detective. "I'm all for getting a drink while we wait to get this cleaned up." He clapped Matt on the back and they started the trip back down through the sliding rock to call back their horses.


	14. Chapter 14

**14**

Doc Mullins had spent most of the day with Chris Travis and after Matt called him to let him know about Kyle Weatherford's suicide and what had happened with Marlena he suggested that it would be a good time to let Chris know the truth.

"Doc…" Matt had just unloaded Jasper and was about to take Strauss and Cisco home. "Are you sure?"

"I think a good dose of the truth about her will help him. He's been feeling a lot of guilt. He needs to know exactly what she did to him. Better to learn it now in a controlled environment and deal with it before he leaves here."

"Okay. I'll be there as soon as I can." It was just after seven o'clock when he hung up and told Strauss who was being mobbed by the horses in Matt's corral.

"I'd like to go, too."

Matt nodded and they rode back up to the house where the kids were being dried off after a romp in the pool with Tomás, CJ, and Sheila. He stopped the truck and got out to tell them goodnight and introduced the crew to the sheriff and noticed as CJ slipped on the terry cloth robe over her bathing suit that she was starting to show just a little bit. A smile spread across his face.

On the way to the sheriff's house Matt's phone rang. "Hey, Don."

"Saw that you and Karl got your man. Congrats."

"Thanks."

"I also thought you would like to know about the explosion yesterday."

"Oh?"

"Uh huh. The bomb that Sanderson made wasn't originally intended for you guys. He was going to plant it at his work the next day according to his private blog. Redmond PD found plans that he had researched on the internet and they interviewed people at his workplace. They had given him a month's separation notice and he evidently was going to go out with a bang."

"So I wonder if he was just working on it when it went off or if he did it on purpose?"

"Don't know. Never will I guess."

"Well, I appreciate the call."

"Talk to you later. And congrats again."

"Thanks."

After a stop by the Strauss place to drop off Cisco, the pair went to the hospital and were riding up in the elevator. Matt gave a deep sigh. "Isn't going to be easy to tell a man something like that."

"No, but I think the doctor is right. Better to get it over with while he's here. And you're the right one to tell him, Houston."

They stepped off and were met by Mullins who escorted them into the ward and to Chris Travis' room. The man looked up as they entered and quickly stood. "Houston…"

"How ya doin', Chris?" The pair shook hands and the sheriff introduced himself.

"Yeah, you came to the ranch one time. I voted for you." There was a little chuckle and then it got quiet after Mullins brought in a couple of extra chairs.

Matt sat down and tried once again to find the right words to use. Chris watched him closely. "Chris…" The detective leaned forward in the chair with his elbows resting on his knees. "We got to the bottom of it."

"I knew you would."

"Well…" He paused again. "It's going to be a bitter pill to swallow, bud." Looking up at the man he saw the anxious look in his eyes.

"I want to know. Everything."

Slowly and quietly Houston began telling him everything, from the investigation into Paul Sanderson and his connection to the bank robbers, how he had been the one to kill Devon, Dyson and Ashley, and his subsequent suicide by blowing up the condo. Chris cried for several minutes and then pulled himself together enough to ask about Marlena. Houston next told him about their research into Kyle Weatherford and finally he told him the truth about Marlena. There was no sound in the room for a few minutes except for that of Chris as he quietly sat and cried once again. He began to pull himself together. "I want this guy. This Weatherford guy."

"Too late for that. He took himself out this afternoon." Houston related the day's events and Travis just sat staring at the floor and nodding. Minutes ticked by in silence before he looked up at the two men. "So I spent the last two years…" He stopped as anger bubbled up inside of him along with sorrow. "I blamed myself every - single - day for our problems."

Matt's voice was very quiet. "It wasn't you, bud."

"Yeah, I know that now. God, how could I have been so stupid? How could…" He didn't finish but silently started crying again. Standing he approached Matt with his hand outstretched and the pair shook before he pulled the detective into a hug. No other words were needed.

A week later Matt and CJ had the kids down at the corral where they were petting on the horses. Matt had moved Maple, Bullet, and Max to the ranch four days earlier after all of the other horses that had been boarded at the Travis place had been picked up by their owners. He looked at his phone as it rang. "Yeah, Lamar?"

"There's a young fella at the gate named Chris Travis."

"Yeah, let him in. Thanks." He put the phone back in his pocket and watched as the three children were sitting on the top rail laughing at the way Maple and Cricket were competing for all of the attention. The blue pickup pulling a trailer came slowly down the driveway and in a minute came to a stop. Shyly the man got out and watched as Maple was receiving kisses from all three of the kids at the same time and a smile went across his face.

Catey Rose turned to see who was there and had an arm thrown around the horse's neck. "Hi!"

"Hi there." He walked over and began scratching Maple's jaw. "How ya doin', boy? Looks like you're getting plenty of attention."

"He's a good horse." Vinnie looked up at the stranger.

"Yeah, he is." Looking at Houston he gave him a sad smile. After being introduced to the family he spoke to Matt. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"  
"Sure." The two walked a little ways away and watched as once again Maple was made over by the kids.

"I'm leaving town. Gonna go back to Wyoming and go to work for my cousin. He's got a place up by Rock Springs. Cutting horses."

"Sounds good. It's sure beautiful up there."

"Well…" He paused and watched the kids. "I've got a buyer for Bullet and I'm going to take Max with me."

"Alright."

"But Maple…" He stopped. "If it's okay with you I think he would be happier here - with the kids. He loves kids."

"Are you sure? I know how much he means to you."

"Look at them. That right there is what it's all about. It's good for him and it's good for them." He watched as the gelding swiped the side of Mike's face with his tongue and set the group off into another round of giggles. "Plus he hates cold weather."

"So you think he would like Texas?"

"No doubt about it."

"Good. Because we're moving Jasper, Cricket, and Lucy to the ranch down there. We're still in LA some but I think it's better for the kids down there."

"I think as long as he's got kids around he'll be just fine."

"How much do you want for him?"

"Nothing. That right there…" Chris motioned to the group. "That's worth more than all the money in the world."


End file.
